The Batman Honors Joker's Most Defining Trait (Despite Being So Different)
Barry Keoghan's Joker in The Batman may signal a huge departure from past iterations, but his characterization still honors the DC villain's most important trait - a psychological bond with the Dark Knight. When Matt Reeves' The Batman introduces its Joker, precious little is given away. Barry Keoghan cuts a shadowy figure as an Arkham prisoner, extending a hand of friendship toward Paul Dano's Riddler, but only utters a choice few lines and never appears in full. Warner Bros. has now released a full 5-minute deleted scene of an exchange between Keoghan's Joker and Robert Pattinson's Batman, affording a glimpse into the new Clown Prince's personality, backstory and mannerisms.
Immediately, it's clear this is a Joker like no other — especially compared to big screen incarnations of the past. Suffering a congenital condition that forces his mouth to smile (a detail confirmed by Matt Reeves), Joker's face is not only heavily scarred, but covered by lesions and broken skin that extends all the way down to his hands. Though Keoghan nails the manic laugh, The Batman's Joker shows a unique personality too — a more casual, youthful, dismissive kind of sadist, which speaks to how the character isn't yet the fully-formed «Joker» package in Pattinson's continuity.
Related: Did The Batman's Joker Cut His Own Face Off?
Though it's impossible to deny Barry Keoghan's Joker represents a stark departure from the norm, one key commonality of the DC villain shines through strongly… and it's arguably the most important factor of all. He might've started as little more than a deranged clown, but over the past 80 years, The Joker has developed into not only Batman's most infamous adversary, but something of a mirror image to Bruce Wayne's
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