Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Batman.
The full reveal of The Batman's Joker is proof of Matt Reeves' biggest change to the Gotham of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. The Batman is the realization of Matt Reeves' vision for the Caped Crusader, with Robert Pattinson taking up the title role. The film's story takes place in Batman's second year as Gotham's most famous vigilante and chronicles his attempts to thwart the Riddler's plan to expose corruption in Gotham and inspire radical change through the medium of murder and extremism.
The film's closing scenes see Paul Dano's Riddler meet Barry Keoghan's Joker, whose brief appearance was shrouded in shadow. However, the release of one of The Batman's deleted scenes reveals Barry Keoghan's Joker, affording a much better look at Reeves' incarnation of the iconic villain. The scene sees Batman approach Joker for advice regarding the Riddler, establishing a fascinating history between the pair that predates the events of The Batman.
Similarities have been drawn between The Batman and Nolan's trilogy due to the dark and grounded nature of their respective stories, but Keoghan's Joker proves Reeves' biggest change to The Batman's Gotham City from Nolan's version. The idea that Batman has already faced Joker in Reeves' Gotham makes The Batman's world feel so much bigger and stranger and indicates that much more is possible in this particular continuity. It also hints at Reeves' interesting approach to the villain that will offset any potential need for an origin story.
The deleted scene's introduction of Keoghan's Joker is an interesting one, as it forgoes any dramatic confrontation between Batman and his nemesis. By establishing a history between the pair in which Batman has already defeated the Joker in some way, The Batman makes a statement about its version of Gotham that makes it feel much more unpredictable. Barry Keoghan's Joker already being established within The Batman's world is evidence of just how bizarre and creepy Reeves' Gotham is, and it adds an instant sense of hidden depth to the film's story.
Heath Ledger's Joker in Nolan's trilogy was a character that shook Gotham to its very core with his advocacy for chaos, with the events of The Dark Knight establishing the villain as one of the most significant in Nolan's Batman films. The deleted scene from The Batman shows that Keoghan's Joker is perhaps something else, with the idea that he was defeated by Batman roughly a year prior hinting that the pair's origins may be somehow linked. This makes Reeves' Gotham feel like a stranger and more insidious place than that of the Dark Knight trilogy, adding a sense that it's a city filled with freaks and oddballs, and that characters like the Joker are somewhat commonplace.
While the scene was ultimately cut from the film, its release adds an interesting layer of context to The Batman's larger world. It establishes the history between Pattinson's Batman and Keoghan's Joker, but it also belies a much darker and creepier aspect to Gotham beyond the corruption that's shown in The Batman. Through implication, Keoghan's Joker acts as proof of exactly how Reeves' Gotham in The Batman is so different from that of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
