Deleted Scene From 'The Batman' Gives Us A Look At The New Joker

'Riddle Me This'

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 3 min read

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR THE BATMAN

The Batman continues to amass solid reviews and dominate the global box office worldwide. Its marketing campaign has continued to keep interest in the movie by adding content to the Rataladda website. The most recent is a deleted scene which gives fans a more in-depth look at a fan-favorite character.

During the press tour, director Matt Reeves tried to convince everyone that Barry Keoghan was playing Officer Stanley Merkel, James Gordon’s partner in Gotham City Police Department. Once the film dropped we learned he was playing a much more menacing character. He was secretly cast into the role of the Joker and now fans have a better look at the character and his disfigured look.

In the deleted scene, Batman approaches the Joker to try to gain some perspective on why the Riddler may be doing what he is doing. The back and forth between Batman and the Joker cements the fact they have had previous interactions and this likely will not be the last time they see each other. Joker tells Batman that the Riddler is doing all of this because he has always been a nobody. He also indicates that the Riddler might ironically be a fan of Batman and see him as an ally.

While The Batman is downright amazing and easily adds Keoghan to the ranks of talented actors to play the Joker, it does make sense that this particular scene was cut from the film. The scene would have taken away from the interrogation between Batman and the Riddler in the film's third act. The best part about this scene is that we get a glimpse at just how disfigured the Joker truly is in this version. We don't have any context as to why or whether an altercation with Batman made that worse in any way.

In my opinion, this deleted scene also adds to the dynamic of the relationship between Batman and the Joker. Matt Reeves has said he was unsure of which scene he wanted to include in the final version of the film. To me, this points to the idea that the Joker and Batman are always destined to meet but both are so much more complex than just each other. Batman is a figure that invokes fear in the heart of those committing a crime in Gotham and Joker is the antithesis of that. He spreads anarchy and has no fear because he is always improvising his next big escape.

The Joker’s introduction and this deleted scene are proof that Matt Reeves has thought of the bigger picture for his movies. The Joker is not just another character in the Batman lore. He has killed members of Batman's makeshift vigilante crime-fighting family and has really toyed with Bruce's mind over the years. The interaction in this deleted scene sets the stage for a Hannibal Lector/Will Graham dynamic. The Joker has never been presented this way in previous iterations and Keoghan's Joker seems much more inclined to be less chaotic and more destructive through well-planned disruptive anarchic destruction. As the series progresses, I hope that we get to see glimpses of his larger plan while he strings Batman along. That would set the stage for their ultimate showdown and fully transform him into the Joker who terrorizes Gotham.

Whichever direction Matt Reeves takes the character in, there are plenty of resources to draw upon. Batman: Arkham Asylum immediately comes to mind. Batman: The Killing Joke is the other. As more supporting characters will surely be added to Batman's world in the coming sequels, we can see how powerful this deleted scene really is. It is merely the beginning and now we have to wait and see where the Batmobile takes us next on this wild ride through the streets of Gotham.

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