The Batman’s final minutes teased that universe’s Joker, which is similar to what Batman Begins did ahead of the Clown Prince of Crime’s arrival in The Dark Knight. The first solo Batman movie in almost ten years, The Batman ditched skipped Batman’s origin story but still followed a relatively inexperienced Bruce Wayne who had become Batman less than two years ago. Still, The Batman already established a considerable number of Batman’s Rogues Gallery.
One of the biggest differences between how Batman Begins and The Batman teased the Joker is that, in the Matt Reeves Batman reboot, Batman has already faced the Joker at some point in his short vigilante career. This, however, is only really revealed in The Batman’s deleted Joker scene. The Batman does feature Barry Keoghan’s Joker, though, in a brief scene with Paul Dano’s Riddler at Arkham.
Batman Begins’ Joker Card Was The Perfect Sequel Tease
Though any Batman movie has the potential to lead into a sequel, Batman Begins works perfectly as a self-contained story. Still, while there was no guarantee of a sequel, Batman Begins ended with a tease of what was yet to come to Gotham. The Joker card that Gordon hands over to Batman at the end of the film was not necessarily a sequel hook, as The Dark Knight would only start to be written later down the line, but it was enough to set up how Bruce Wayne’s Batman crusade had only just begun. More than teasing Joker for a potential sequel, Batman Begins’ ending highlights the challenges of Batman’s mission.
One of Batman Begins’ main themes was the idea of escalation, that is, how Bruce Wayne needed Batman to help Gotham protect itself from Carmine Falcone and the mob. However, just like Batman steps up to fight Gotham’s mob, the criminals of Gotham City would eventually step up to face Batman. The Joker as a character represents Gotham’s answer to Batman, something that Batman Begins’ Joker card tease perfectly encapsulated. In addition, since Batman Begins had reinvented Batman’s mythos for the big screen with reimagined versions of villains like Scarecrow, there was no choice but to wonder how the sequel would portray the Joker.
Will Barry Keoghan’s Joker Be The Batman - Part 2’s Villain?
Director Matt Reeves has said multiple times that neither Joker’s cameo in The Batman nor the deleted Arkham scene featuring the iconic villain necessarily means that the Joker will be The Batman 2’s villain. Reeves has highlighted that The Batman’s Joker teases are not a sequel hook but instead something to highlight that the Riddler will not be the final threat Batman and Gotham will have to face. While that approach is similar to what Batman Begins’ Joker card scene wanted to achieve, The Batman does not nail its Joker teases as well as Nolan’s first Batman film did.
The Batman’s Joker and Riddler scene at Arkham, while brief, overplayed the idea that the Joker could already be there. Between Suicide Squad and Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime had already appeared on the big screen twice since The Dark Knight, not to mention the Gotham TV show and several other adaptations. With so much of the Joker across all media, The Batman could have gone for a “less is more” approach similar to Batman Begins’ Joker card. Likewise, the fact that The Batman’s deleted Arkham scene offers a first look at Barry Keoghan’s Joker removes some of the mystery about the character ahead of The Batman - Part 2.
