After teasing from director Matt Reeves about the deleted scene when the movie was first released, Warner Bros. Pictures has debuted the official scene from The Batman where Robert Pattinson’s hero meets Barry Keoghan‘s Joker in Arkham. Reeves previously broke it all down in interviews ahead of the film’s debut but now that fans can actually see it they’ve been flipping out about the look of the Eternals‘ star as the clown prince of crime, plus his relationship with Batman. Keoghan also finally got the chance to open up about taking on the role, joining the likes of Jack Nicholson, Joaquin Phoenix, and Heath Ledger, as playing the Joker in live-action on the big screen.
“Honestly I am stuck for words,” the actor wrote in a tweet. “But I am very very BLESSED to play this role after the AMAZING AMAZING Actors before me. Here’s my version. Enjoy.” Keoghan’s involvement in The Batman was known as soon as production began with the studio announcing his casting and claiming at the time that he was playing a Gotham Police Office, all part of their ruse to keep his real role secret. Matt Reeves even confirmed in an interview that some fake scenes were shot to further preserve it all.
“When you’re making a movie like this, you want it to be different, you want people to feel like they’re having a special experience,” Reeves explained to IGN. “So we started thinking what we could do to throw people off that scent. This idea of making [Keoghan] Stanley Merkel was exactly that, because the police force is actually a big part of the story so it seemed credible that we could be doing that.”
You can see Keoghan’s own reaction to his full scene, as well as what some fans think, below!
No words #TheBatman https://t.co/NELTHtSF2c
Honestly I am stuck for words but I am very very BLESSED to play this role after the AMAZING AMAZING Actors before me.
Here’s my version
Enjoy
??? https://t.co/AKyD5dgcq3
This joker appears to be more realistic because it accurately portrays what someone might look like if they fell into a tank of chemicals, burning both their hair and skin. Matt Reeves has done a fantastic job with the Villians.#TheBatman #Joker pic.twitter.com/antawt25Jp
AN IRISH JOKER LET’S GOOO pic.twitter.com/e30RFpb60U
Bloody hell man. It’s sacrilegious but you might have just aced Heath Ledger in a 4 minute clip. Bloody brilliant. Wish it was in the movie. Hope You’re in the sequel.
You’re now part of the big ones pic.twitter.com/WrR3wRfneE
WOW THIS SCENE!!! I just can’t wait to see more of your version of the Joker in the sequel of #TheBatman pic.twitter.com/PZTrDVAy0X
This should of stayed in the film. This was the scariest scene!!!!
You have one hell of a laugh pic.twitter.com/wEnmZJepdZ
