A new piece of fan art imagines what Barry Keoghan could look like as The Joker in a sequel to Matt Reeves’ The Batman. While Ben Affleck was originally slated to appear as the DC Extended Universe’s Bruce Wayne in The Batman, he left the project in 2019 before Robert Pattinson was cast in Reeves’ reboot. Now, after a plethora of COVID-19-related delays, The Batman is arguably Warner Bros./DC’s most anticipated project. DC Fandome’s mic-drop-worthy Batman trailer gave fans a visceral look at the early days of the caped crusader’s vigilante career in a very different Gotham.
A fair amount of mystery still revolves around The Batman’s plot. However, we do know that the film will follow Batman during his second year as a crime fighter as he investigates killings done by the Riddler (Paul Dano). In addition to Dano’s Riddler, The Batman will feature a slew of characters from DC’s rogues’ gallery, including Colin Farrell’s Penguin, John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone, and Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman. The Clown Prince of Crime himself, The Joker, is not expected to make an appearance.
Digital artist Mizuri recently posted some art to his Instagram imagining what Barry Keoghan could look like as The Joker in The Batman or a possible sequel. Keoghan is an actor known for his roles in Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and, more recently, for playing Druigg in Marvel Studios' Eternals. Mizuri’s post piggybacks off of the latest rumors suggesting Keoghan could be playing The Joker in Reeves’ Batverse. Check it out below:
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In 2020, Keoghan joined the cast of The Batman with Warner Bros. confirming his character to be Gotham City Police Department officer Stanley Merkel. In the comics, Merkel served as Jim Gordon’s (who is being played by Jeffrey Wright in The Batman) partner before being killed by Sofia Falcone/Hangman. That being said, nothing connects this character to the Joker on the page. However, Keoghan's brother, Eric, may have accidentally spoiled the actor's role as the Joker in a now-deleted exchange on social media, which saw him respond to the aforementioned rumor by saying "so it's finally out My Brother playing the JOKER in the new Batman Unreal Stuff." Suffice to say, he might have just been kidding.
Keoghan, or whoever ends up following Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, and Joaquin Phoenix as DC Film’s next live-action Joker, will certainly have their hands full—an otherworldly precedent has been set. On top of that, Phoenix is interested in reprising his Oscar-winning Joker role in a follow-up to Todd Phillips’ 2019 film. As that film and Reeves’ The Batman exist in their our universes, there’s no telling when we’ll be seeing Joker on the big screen again. The Batman is set to release on March 4, 2022, and a spin-off TV series focused on the Gotham City Police Department will release on HBO Max not long after.
Source: Mizuri
