From the start, this article will contain spoilers for The Batman.
Ever since it was announced that Eternals star Barry Keoghan would be appearing in The Batman, fans believed that he would be playing the latest version of the Joker. However, newly released cast lists have Keoghan down to play “Unseen Prisoner” from Arkham Asylum. Appearing at the end of the movie, it seems strange that an established actor would have such a minor, off-screen role unless it was a prelude to something much bigger, but as director Matt Reeves recently revealed, there was a previous scene in the movie that featured the same character that was cut.
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The Batman is already laden with Gotham’s worst, from the Riddler to Carmine Falcone, so while there have been several hits at the presence of the Joker in the movie, it would seem that if Keoghan does turn out to be playing Gotham’s Clown Prince, then it certainly isn’t going to be a pivotal role I this movie but will likely be a set up for the almost certain sequel, and would also create an uncanny parallel with Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, which also ended its first movie by teasing the Joker’s imminent arrival.
While speaking with Tech Radar, Matt Reeves was very open and happy to talk about Barry Keoghan’s appearance in the movie, going so far as to tease almost every detail other than confirming who the unseen character is that he plays. He also talked about one scene in particular which was cut from the movie but will likely find a home among the deleted scenes included on future Blu-ray and other home media editions of the film. He said:
“There were scenes we cut that I liked. In fact, there’s a scene with the unseen prisoner (Keoghan), who appears at the end of the movie in Arkham [Asylum] with the Riddler. There was an earlier scene where Batman went to Arkham to try to profile the Riddler, and Barry is in that scene. It’s a very cool scene, and I’m sure we’ll we’ll release the scene after the movie comes out, because it’s a really cool deleted scene.”
The Batman Already Has Its Future In Its Own Hands, and Barry Keoghan Could Be A Big Part of That
While many still believe that Keoghan will be playing the Joker in all but name, when the initial casting was announced, it was said that the Irish actor would be playing Jim Gordon’s original partner, Gotham PD officer Stanley Merkel. However, his change to “Unseen Prisoner” has thrown the Joker back into the mix as the most likely character for Keoghan to evolve into.
Of course, there are many other villains that he could turn out to be playing, and we will really have to wait and see where all of this leads once the movie is released. It is unclear whether Keoghan’s character will say enough in the scene that did remain intact to give away his character. Still, with this kind of appearance, similar to Thanos in the post-credit scene of Avengers, there is little point hiding the character’s identity when it can be used to spark an immediate interest in whatever comes next for The Batman.
The Batman Quietly Cast Dunkirk Standout Barry Keoghan in a Key Role
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Anthony Lund
(1728 Articles Published)
Anthony Lund is an author, songwriter and puppeteer from a small village in the U.K. with an avid love of all genres of TV and film. As well as keeping up with the lastest entertainment news and writing about it for MovieWeb, he works as a video editor, voice over artist and production designer. A child of the 80s, he is the owner of almost 2000 books, more toys than his children, three Warner Bros. Store Gremlins and a production used Howard The Duck movie script.
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