One of The Batman's biggest surprises came right at the end of the movie when we learned that The Riddler's neighbour in Arkham Asylum is The Joker. He's not a fully-fledged version of that villain quite yet, though a deleted scene revealed some of the history he shares with the Dark Knight after the hero captured the serial killer during his first year in Gotham City.
Talking to GQ, Joker actor Barry Keoghan revealed that The Joker wasn't the Batman villain he originally auditioned for.
"I wanted to be Riddler," the actor says, explaining that this video on his Vimeo channel was meant as his unofficial audition for the role after he heard The Batman was in the works. By the time he met producer Dylan Clark, Jonah Hill had been cast as The Riddler, though Paul Dano would later be enlisted to star as the iconic DC Comics villain.
However, four months later, he got a call from his agent saying, "The Batman wants you to play the Joker – but you cannot tell anyone."
Saying his take on the Clown Prince of Crime is "a bit charming and a bit hurt," Keoghan insisted that his eyes remain visible beneath all those prosthetics. "I wanted some sort of human in there behind the makeup. I want people to relate to him...[to know] this is a façade he puts on." To him, The Joker is "a broken-down boy."
Confirming he hasn't heard anything about The Batman 2, the actor made it clear that, "As soon as that call comes. I’m there man, I’m there."
We're certainly intrigued to see what the future holds in store for Keoghan's version of The Joker, particularly as his transformation into the villain we know from the comic books is far from complete. He fits into the world that filmmaker Matt Reeves is creating, though, and common sense says the Harlequin of Hate will take centre stage in the follow-up.
The Batman sequel doesn't currently have a release date.