Picture Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Every day Beast/Getty/Everett Assortment
There’s quite a bit to course of about Matt Reeves’ superhero noir The Batman—from its emo Bruce Wayne, to the built-in pet carriers on Catwoman’s motorbike, to... nicely, every little thing Paul Dano’s doing because the Riddler. However as I’ve sat with every little thing I witnessed throughout the movie’s (sure, very lengthy) run, one thought has more and more begun to hang-out me: Are we actually getting one other Joker? One other?
(Spoilers forward!)
Actually, I used to be already combating the entire flooding Madison Sq. Backyard section of The Batman by the point we bought to its most beautiful reveal. We’ve already seen two film Jokers prior to now decade—Jared Leto debuted his Sizzling Subject-infused tackle the character in 2016’s Suicide Squad, and Joaquin Phoenix took house for Finest Actor for enjoying the chaotic clown in 2019’s Joker. And that’s saying nothing of Heath Ledger’s efficiency—which received the actor the identical award posthumously after his tragic demise in 2008—or Jack Nicholson’s celebrated flip within the 1989 model.
However despite these performances—to not point out TV’s latest Jokers—Reeves and firm determined to ship in one other clown.
As The Batman involves an in depth, we observe Paul Dano’s Riddler making a brand new good friend from his cell at Arkham—a jokester kind whose cackle sounds awfully acquainted. “What's it they are saying?” says the inmate—performed by Eternals actor Barry Keoghan. “Someday you’re on high. The following, you’re a clown.”
Reeves has already addressed the second, which he swears is “not an Easter egg scene.”
“It’s not a type of finish credit Marvel or DC scenes the place it’s going, like, ‘Hey, right here’s the following film!’” the director informed Selection. “In truth, I don't know when or if we might return to that character within the films.”
Reeves mentioned it was necessary to him to ensure his movie stood out from all the opposite bat fare viewers have consumed of late. The Joker, he concedes, has “been achieved nicely, quite a few instances”—so he informed Keoghan up entrance that he didn’t know when or if his Joker may return. Nonetheless, he hasn’t dominated out the concept of bringing the character again in some capability.
“There’s stuff I’m very fascinated with doing in an Arkham area, doubtlessly for HBO Max,” he mentioned. “There are issues we’ve talked about there. So it’s very doable. It additionally isn’t inconceivable, that there's some story that comes again the place Joker comes into our world.”
How coy!
Ought to Keoghan finally seem on TV because the Joker, he’ll be in good firm. Gotham, the Arrowverse, NBC’s short-lived sitcom Powerless, and HBO Max’s personal animated Harley Quinn sequence have every folded in their very own tackle the character already. That’s to not say there isn’t room for one more one. However to what finish?
At this level we’ve seen sufficient Jokers to final two lifetimes. Why not give Poison Ivy or another member of the comics’ in depth Rogues Gallery their day within the solar? (Lake Bell’s tackle the character in Harley Quinn is unbelievable and calls for a dwell motion follow-up on this humble viewer’s opinion!) Or, hell, convey again Mr. Freeze—the purpose is, we've choices!
It’s not simply that varied actors have tackled the Joker over and again and again, typically in fast succession, however that with every new take the character turns into extra summary. He’s already extra meme than man now—a stand-in for chaos, or disillusionment, or misanthropy, or no matter phrase may greatest telegraph “bleak edginess.” What number of extra variations on this theme can we discover—and would any of these actually be extra enjoyable than, say, giving Killer Croc an opportunity? Or Killer Moth? Or the Ventriloquist? I’m simply saying, the character design on a characteristic film-scale Clock Man may very well be fairly sick. Haven’t all of us seen sufficient green-haired clowns round Halloween to final a lifetime?