Joker Isn't Joker Yet In The Batman, Reveals Matt Reeves

screenrant.com:

The Batman director Matt Reeves has revealed that Barry Keoghan’s Joker is not actually The Joker yet. Reeves’ iteration of the character debuted in a cameo appearance in the recent relaunch of The Caped Crusader, which hit theaters in March. The film is currently available to stream on HBO Max.

The Batman explores a conflict on multiple fronts between Batman (Robert Pattinson), The Riddler (Paul Dano), The Penguin (Colin Farrell), and Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz). However, the film also goes to great lengths to lay the groundwork for other Gotham villains, including The Joker. In the theatrical cut of the film, Keoghan’s version of the character is briefly shown in Arkham as a prisoner with a cell sharing a wall with The Riddler. As the film closes out, the two are seen slowly developing a friendship that will seemingly be explored in future projects.

Related: The Batman 2 & Joker Setup Risks Repeating A Major MCU Mistake

Very little is known about Keoghan’s Joker from his appearance in The Batman. However, Warner Bros. Entertainment recently released commentary from Reeves for the deleted scene between Joker and Batman — which didn’t make the theatrical cut but was released after the movie premiered. In the commentary, Reeves explains that this character is going to become The Joker and has had run-ins with Batman, but he is not the fully formed villain yet. Reeves explained:

I think for me, what I wanted to do, in trying to kind of launch a new Year 2 Gotham, was to have it be as if all of these characters that we know in Gotham sort of already exist. Here we have a version of this character who is not yet the Joker, but is going to become the Joker, and I wanted Batman to have had an experience with him that put him in