James Gunn shoots down rumours of a Joker TV sequence starring Barry Keoghan, saying there’s “Absolutely no truth to this.”
There have been rumours that Barry Keoghan could be reprising the position of Joker for a TV sequence set between the occasions of The Batman Half II and The Batman Half III. Nonetheless, DC Studios co-head James Gunn shortly shot down the rumours. “No there is absolutely no truth to this,” Gunn wrote on Threads. “A Joker sequence shouldn’t be being mentioned nor has even come up right now. Sorry.“
Given how profitable The Penguin sequence has been, it sounded believable that DC Studios may need been contemplating an analogous sequence to bridge the hole between the subsequent two Batman motion pictures. However alas, a Joker TV sequence doesn’t sound prefer it’s within the works.
Keoghan briefly performed the position of Joker (albeit unnamed) in one of many last scenes of Matt Reeves’ The Batman. He additionally appeared in a deleted scene, which was launched simply weeks after the film premiered. The deleted scene featured Batman (Robert Pattinson) visiting Joker in Arkham Asylum to get his perspective on Gotham’s newest villain, The Riddler. Reeves has beforehand defined that he reduce the scene as a result of it didn’t match into the bigger narrative.
“Not because anyone asked me to cut it, but [I didn’t think] it was necessary,” Reeves mentioned. “However it’s a very cool scene with that very same unseen prisoner in Arkham. There was an earlier scene the place Batman, as a result of he’s getting these playing cards and letters from the Riddler, and he’s pondering, ‘Why is this guy writing to me? I’m imagined to be nameless and he’s placing a lens on me. I don’t like that,’ and so he goes to form of profile this type of serial killer.“
Reeves continued, “And also you see him assembly with anyone who is clearly a serial killer himself, who, as a result of it’s not Batman’s origin, however it’s the origins of all these different characters, you’re seeing a model of this character who, sure, once you see the unknown prisoner, you’re like, ‘well, gee, I think that’s who that’s.’ Nicely, that’s who that’s, however he’s not but that character.“
Whereas it appears probably that we’ll see Keoghan’s Joker once more (even perhaps in The Batman Half II), Reeves instructed Keoghan from the beginning that he couldn’t promise that this could be a recurring position. “I said to Barry, right from the beginning, ‘Look, I don’t know where this is going to go. I can’t promise that it’ll even ever come back. I don’t know,’” Reeves mentioned. “And I nonetheless really feel that method now. I’m undecided precisely.“
The Batman Half II will lastly begin capturing subsequent yr and is presently slated for an October 2, 2026 launch.
