SPOILER ALERT: Been warned, major spoilers for The Batman to follow…After a series of delays, The Batman has at last been released and is now dominating the box office. Following an early version of The Dark Knight, The Batman also introduces early versions of several villains, including SPOILER Eternals star Barry Keoghan as The Joker. Director Matt Reeves has since revealed that a deleted scene between Robert Pattinson’s Batman and Barry Keoghan’s Clown Prince of Crime exists, and the filmmaker has now offered even more details of the scene while speaking with Total Film.
Confirming again that the scene between Robert Pattinson as Batman and Barry Keoghan as his future archenemy takes heavy inspiration from Hannibal Lecter in both Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs, Reeves goes on to tease some of the dialogue that plays out between the pair of DC icons.
“In the movie, the Riddler is leaving these messages for Batman and it’s very unnerving for him. Batman decides that he needs to – almost like the movie Manhunter – profile the killer. And so he goes to Arkham and meets up with another killer, who he’s obviously had some experience within Year One. He probably had something to do with putting him there.”
“Barry says, ‘It’s almost our anniversary, isn’t it?’ And you’re like, ‘Who is this guy?’ And that’s why he’s called the ‘Unseen Prisoner’ in the movie. You’re getting into this psychological horror, he’s getting into the mind of Batman and Batman is trying to understand, ‘Why do you think this guy’s writing to me?’ And he says, “What do you mean, the two of you are the same.” He’s getting into Batman’s mind. Barry and Rob, they did the scene so beautifully.”
Matt Reeves Went on to Heap Praise on Barry Keoghan’s Portrayal of The Joker
Barry Keoghan’s role in The Batman was rife with rumor and speculation, with many believing that he would play a minor character, while others expected that he would indeed play The Joker. Now that all the secrets have been revealed, director Matt Reeves is at last able to praise the actor for his portrayal of the infamous clown.
What did you think of the surprise cameo? Directed by Matt Reeves, who wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig, and starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell, The Batman is in theaters now.
“Barry’s very unnerving. He’s a wonderful actor. And he was really brave. When I started writing this movie, [Joaquin Phoenix’s] Joker hadn’t come out. I didn’t even know that they were making Joker when I started. Joaquin gives an incredible performance. And when we started making this movie, Joaquin had just won the Academy Award. And so, for Barry to jump into this, we were saying, ‘Look, we honestly don’t know where this character goes, but you’ll be jumping into this thing that a high wire act.’ And he was very brave. He was like, ‘I’m ready, man. I’ll jump in.’ He was great.”
