The Batman Part 2 Director Finally Reveals Details About This Iconic DC Villain

While DC fans are still trying to deduce who The Batman Part 2‘s main villain will be, director Matt Reeves has finally given some more clues about Barry Keoghan’s mysterious Joker. The Joker appears very briefly in The Batman, comforting a disheartened Riddler (Paul Dano) at Arkham Asylum. The character was given more screen time in an incredibly popular deleted scene, revealing that the iconic supervillain had been locked away in Arkham Asylum for a year, and has already encountered Robert Pattinson’s Batman.

In the comics, the Joker has had various origins stories, with the most famous being that he was a regular criminal, before accidentally being dropped into a vat of acid at ACE Chemicals (in Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke). Most comics don’t reveal the Joker’s backstory, much like Heath Ledger’s version in The Dark Knight,but Reeves has now teased fans with the type of Joker they can expect in the sequel.

“Barry is a wonderful actor. He’s very, very special. One of the things that we talked a lot about was the idea, that his worldview is sort of formed by his being disfigured from birth. It was kind of like a cruel joke that life was playing on him, as well.”

Reeves explained to Digital Spy how he wants Barry Keoghan’s version of the character to put a new spin on the iconic DC Comics character. Much like Reeves re-invented Batman, Riddler, and Penguin (Colin Farrell) to suit a more grounded, realistic Gotham, so too is he giving the Joker the same treatment. Reeves continued:

“His whole philosophy of life, and the laughing that he does in that kind of insidious, upsetting way, comes from the joke that has been played on him in his existence. This is who he is, so that’s how he sees the world, so that’s our point of entry into him. It’s dealing with the themes that are Joker themes, but to try and find a different way in, a different point of entry. So that’s something we talked a lot about when we’re doing the scenes.”

Matt Reeves is slowly building a lived-in Gotham City in his The Batman universe. The Penguin explores a new side of Gotham City, and gives the villain his own story, separated from Batman. With the newfound freedom, Colin Farrell wants his version of Penguin to meet Keoghan’s Joker in The Batman-verse, either as an ally, or an adversary.

“Oh, yeah, I’d love that. I thought he was fantastic, there were two scenes wasn’t there?”

Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan previously appeared on-screen together in Martin McDonagh’s multi-Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin. Farrell praised Keoghan’s commitment to all of his roles, knowing the fellow Irish actor will make an excellent Joker in The Batman Part II. Farrell continued:

“There was the one that was in the film, then the one that was released afterwards. I thought Barry was fantastic in it, and again Mike Marino’s work was extraordinary, so creepy, so creepy. I would love to get to work with Barry on that. I just know that he’d give it a lot of consideration and a lot of work – Barry works his arse off. He’s a fantastic actor, and he gets the head down when he needs to.”