The Batman Deleted Scene You Didn't Get To See
Spoilers for "The Batman" follow.
"The Batman" is finally out, which means there's now an end to the speculation over what the film's going to be about and who will appear in it. Of course, now that the film is finally out, there's tons of speculation about how it sets up sequels, which means fans are poring over the smallest details and proposing their own theories. And with the movie running at just under three hours, there's plenty of material to sort through and analyze.
It's a massive film, to be sure. Director and co-writer Matt Reeves has concocted a complex noir epic that explores the lives and secrets of Bruce Wayne / Batman (Robert Pattinson), Selina Kyle / Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oz / the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), Edward Nashton / the Riddler (Paul Dano), and more.
As expected, the film is packed with references and Easter eggs, but the one that's got fans talking the most is the scene that confirms Barry Keoghan as the Joker. The scene in question takes place near the end, when the Riddler's been incarcerated, weeping at news coverage of his foiled plans. A voice from the next cell consoles him and says, "One day you're on top. The next, a clown." The scene ends with the two of them laughing maniacally, suggesting we haven't seen the last of Keoghan. However, we almost got more of him in the film — in a deleted scene you didn't get to see.
Barry Keoghan's pre-Joker scene
Matt Reeves has talked about a deleted scene featuring Barry Keoghan that, until we learned who he was really playing, may not have seemed that important. However, after that big reveal near the end of the film, this deleted scene takes on considerably more significance.
"There were scenes we cut that I liked," Reeves said. "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 release the scene after the movie comes out, because it's a really cool deleted scene."
Considering the film occurs in Batman's early days, it's clear that this story occurs in the early days of his rogues' gallery too, meaning there's a strong possibility we'll see the rise of some classic villains in future installments. Reeves confirmed as much in an interview with IGN, saying, "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."