Matt Reeves Explains Why He Kept Joker Scene In The Batman

screenrant.com:

The Batman director Matt Reeves has revealed why he kept the mysterious Joker scene in the final cut of his movie. The Batman is, of course, the most recent interpretation of the iconic DC hero. In Reeves' new imagining of the world of Gotham, actor Robert Pattinson takes on the role of Batman, and is the first actor to play a version of the character to exist outside of the DCEU since Christian Bale took on the role in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy. The Batman follows the titular Caped Crusader in his second year of crime fighting, as he tracks down a mysterious new serial killer called The Riddler (Paul Dano). Since the film's release, it has been acclaimed by both critics and fans alike, and some have even called it the best Batman film to date.

Close to the end of The Batman, there is a scene in which the Riddler is shown locked in Arkham Asylum in a neighboring cell to an obscured stranger who offers to be his friend. While the inmate is named «Unseen Arkham Prisoner» in The Batman's credits, he has a very distinctive laugh, which lead many viewers to draw the conclusion that the character is this film's version of the infamous Joker. This has since been confirmed, as Reeves released a deleted scene in which Batman visits the Joker (played by Barry Keoghan) in Arkham to ask for help in catching the Riddler. Despite cutting this scene, Reeves decided to leave the final interaction between the two villains in the film.

Related: The Batman's Deleted Scene Already Teased How The Joker Escapes Arkham

During the director's commentaryfor The Batman (as reported by The Wrap), Reeves has revealed exactly why he left the scene in the movie, despite removing other references to the Joker. Reeves has admitted that