For a few months now, it has been questioned who Eternals star Barry Keoghan would be playing in The Batman. With the film now in cinemas, it has finally been revealed who the mystery prisoner he plays actually is. As you may have gathered, this article will include spoilers for The Batman, so slink back into the shadows if you want to avoid them.
Barry Keoghan was rumored to be appearing in The Batman quite a few months ago and was allegedly playing a former partner of Commissioner Gordon. However, as the trailer for the movie dropped, it was confirmed that Keoghan would definitely be in the film. Still, his role remained a mystery until a cast listing included the Irish actor as “Unseen Prisoner.” Now the movie is out, and so is the secret of precisely who that unseen prisoner is, and as previously rumored, it turns out to be the latest iteration of Batman’s nemesis, the Joker.
While there is not a post-credit scene in The Batman, the final moments of the film play out like an additional scene as we see the aftermath of The Riddler’s reign of terror and find the villain in his prison cell contemplating his partial defeat by Batman. In the cell next to him is a scarred man who commiserates him on his endeavor and offers to be his friend. This is followed by the prisoner laughing, an unmistakable laugh to anyone who has ever seen a Batman movie as that of Joker.
Will The Joker Appear in The Batman Sequel, or Will He Simply Be a Malevolent Presence Until Later
Warner Bros. Pictures
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight brought the Joker into his Batman trilogy after teasing him at the end of Batman Begins. While this tease of the character could be heading a similar way, this could end up being a red herring for now as there are a number of other options as to who Batman could be pitted against in his next movie.
One exciting piece of information was the news that Warner Bros. tested the movie both with and without this scene included, which suggests that it was a post-credit scene in all but name that could have been removed at any time. The other thing about it potentially not making it into the movie suggests that Joker’s inclusion in a sequel is not perhaps as certain as many would think, or at least not in a main role.
Recently, there has been a suggestion that The Court of Owls will be a feature of the next movie in Robert Pattinson’s Batman run and that is something that Robert Pattinson recently said would be “cool” to do. With the Joker now in the mix, there is going to be a little wait to see exactly who will and won’t be coming face to face with the Caped Crusader in his next outing. Keeping in mind that The Batman featured a range of well-known characters from Batman’s history, it could be a case that once again, the sequel will not just feature one villain for the Dark Knight to contend with.
