Matt Reeves’s take on the Caped Crusader tells us the story of the character during Year Two. This is quite early in the narrative of the character and some of the most essential villains are yet to come. The movie takes Batman and explores the early period when he was a detective and this helps establish his persona. It was exciting to see the wholly original take on the character of the Riddler. But the director also managed to hint at some of the other major villains who would be appearing in the movie. It seems that the Riddler is not alone in Arkham in The Batman. So, who is this other Batman villain that appeared in the film? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Warning!! Go Watch The Batman First.
Other Batman Villain Next To Riddler’s Cell
The Riddler ends up landing in the Arkham asylum after killing a lot of people throughout the entire movie. He was motivated at killing some of the major names in Gotham City’s elite including District Attorney Gil Colson and Mayor Don Mitchell, Jr. This was all in order to reveal that massively corrupted truth about the city. This, in a way, would help Batman discover that Carmine Falcone had the majority of the Police working for him. When the Caped Crusader manages to solve the Riddler’s final clue, the latter is arrested following him killing Falcone.
It seems that the story might have ended when Riddler was sent to Arkham. But this actually sets up an interesting moment where Riddler is seen watching the news regarding the flooding in Gotham City as his bombs had eviscerated the floodwalls. This particular scene also shows another villain who ends up appearing in the scene. The cell right next to him had Joker who has facial scars and is mostly hidden from view. Joker says to Riddler, “One day you’re on top, the next day you’re a clown” before saying that Gotham loves a comeback story.
Matt Reeves Talks About Joker In The Batman
There were a lot of rumors regarding Joker’s appearance in the movie. Barry Keoghan, who was announced to be in the movie, had a mysterious role to play in the movie. Based on leaked set photos it was assumed that Keoghan would be playing GCPD officer Stanley Merkel. The actor’s brother ended up revealing the truth behind the character on social media. But Matt Reeves actually ended up confirming that they had shot some fake scene with Keoghan in order to make people feel he was playing some other character.
Reeves actually stated that the actor had filmed two scenes for the movie but the earlier scene was cut. In an interview with IGN, the director revealed:
What’s interesting is that the reason that Joker’s in the movie is there was actually another scene that was earlier. And because the movie is not an origin tale for Batman, but it’s his early days, it really is an origin tale for the Rogue’s Gallery’s characters. And for me, I think [it’s] this idea that the Joker is not yet the Joker, but they already have this relationship.
The scene that was not in the movie, the scene that this is really the companion to, which is actually a really cool scene that will release at some point, it’s a scene where Batman is so unnerved because the Riddler is writing to him. And he’s like, ‘Well, why is this guy writing to me?’ And he figures he’s got to profile this killer.
He further added:
He goes to see another killer that he’s clearly had an experience with in these first two years. And this killer in this story is not yet the character that we come to know, right? So everybody’s in their infancy. So in the comics, these characters often declare their alter egos in response to the fact that there’s a Batman out there. And so here, we have a Joker who’s not yet the Joker.
Barry Keoghan’s Joker
There was some insight into the way the character design would appear in the movie too. According to Reeves,
In the scene that you’ll see in the future, you’ll see that we worked on what he looked like. And he’s held in this very suspenseful way, away from you visually. But I wanted to create an iteration of him that felt distinctive and new, but went right back to the roots. So he’s very much out of the Conrad Veidt mold and that idea of the silent film of The Man Who Laughs.
Reeves further explained:
He’s got this congenital disease. He can never stop smiling. And it made Mike and I think about — I was talking about The Elephant Man because I love David Lynch. And I was like, ‘Well, maybe there’s something here where it’s not something where he fell in a vat of chemicals or it’s not the Nolan thing where he has these scars and we don’t know where they came from. What if this is something that he’s been touched by from birth and that he has a congenital disease that refuses to let him stop smiling? And he’s had this very dark reaction to it, and he’s had to spend a life of people looking at him in a certain way and he knows how to get into your head.
The particular scene where Joker appears in the movie follows with him delivering the popular Riddler line. He gives Edward Nashton a riddle with the signature line “Riddle me this” to which the killer gives the correct answer “a friend“. The duo ends up laughing out loud and it clearly indicates a certain bond between the two. This is a clear indication of the future of both the characters going against Batman. There is no clear indication of what will happen with the characters but we can be sure to see them in the sequel.
The Batman is now playing in theaters around you.
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