Warner Bros. freaked fans of The Batman out on Thursday when they released a deleted scene from the superhero flick.
The clip featured actor Barry Keoghan’s character, the Joker, opposite Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader.
The five-minute clip showed Keoghan through a prison’s murky glass wall while speaking to Batman.
The Eternals star wears smudged white clown makeup, shaved ash blonde hair, handcuffs and an orange and white striped Arkham Asylum jumpsuit.
“Almost our anniversary, isn’t it?” tells the scarred clown Batman in the clip.
The superhero went to the Joker for information about his current nemesis, the Riddler (played by Paul Dano), and why the prankster is leaving notes for Batman.
Fan theories that Barry Keoghan played the Joker in The Batman are finally confirmed in this deleted scene. youtube
“Maybe he’s a fan of yours?” Joker Notes. “Or maybe he has a grudge against you. Maybe you are the main course.”
The Joker then teases and taunts Bruce Wayne as Batman with the idea that since Gotham’s leaders are corrupt, there might be some tiny, tiny part of him that agrees with the Riddler’s actions.
“I think somewhere deep down you’re just scared because you’re not sure if he’s wrong,” laughs Joker madly.
Following the film’s release earlier this month, director Matt Reeves very, very subtly confirmed that the Irish actor was indeed The Joker. He was credited as “Unseen Arkham Prisoner” in the film’s credits.
“He’s who you think he is,” Reeves told the press. “I would say the thing about the movie is that it’s not a Batman origin story, but it’s the origin story of every Rogue Galerie character you come across. So Selina Kyle isn’t yet Catwoman, and the penguin isn’t yet the Kingpin, and the character you’re referring to isn’t yet the character you’re referring to, but it’s actually him.”
The filmmaker told Variety last month that fans were right: “You’re right. It’s the Joker.”
“It’s not an Easter egg scene,” he said. “It’s not one of those Marvel or DC end credits scenes where it’s like, ‘Hey, here’s the next movie!’ In fact, I have no idea when or if we would return to this character in the films.”