A deleted scene from Matt Reeves’ The Batman has been released featuring Barry Keoghan as the Joker, and fans of Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs may find it familiar.
The deleted scene was released on Thursday via a website with the URL rataalada.com that mimics the one the Riddler (Paul Dano) uses to taunt the Batman (Robert Pattinson) in the movie. (Lots of The Batman spoilers follow, so beware.)
The scene features the Batman paying a visit to the Joker to find out more about the Riddler’s intentions. It recalls Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter (later remade as 2002’s Red Dragon), in which FBI profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) visits Dr. Hannibal Lecter (future Succession star Brian Cox) for clues about a serial killer called The Tooth Fairy. The situation repeats in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 The Silence of the Lambs, in which Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) visits Dr. Lecter (now played by Anthony Hopkins). All the Lecter films are based on Thomas Harris novels, and Manhunter and the other movies spell Hannibal Lecter differently, for reasons Cox explains here.
Reeves hinted at the existence of the deleted scene in an interview with Variety earlier this month, confirming that the Joker was indeed the unnamed person who the Riddler meets in Arkham Asylum. Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer) is currently listed as Unseen Arkham Prisoner on The Batman‘s IMDb page.
Reeves told Variety that in the deleted scene, Batman is unnerved by his inability to solve the Riddler’s crimes, and turns to the Joker, just as Graham turned to his own old nemesis.
“I thought he would be really insecure about this and he’d probably want to find some way to get into the [Riddler’s] mindset, like in Manhunter or Mindhunter — this idea of profiling somebody, so you can predict his next move,” Reeves added. “You realize that they have a relationship, and that this guy obviously did something, and Batman somehow got him into Arkham.”
Also Read: A Detective Story: To Understand Matt Reeves and The Batman, Look to the 1970s
It’s hard to get a good look at the Joker from this scene — in most of it, Keoghan’s face is blurred behind the glass, with Pattinson’s back in focus. But throughout the scene, we get closeups of just the scarred back of the Joker’s head and his trademark green hair, then just his eyes, and finally, his crooked smile.
“Almost our anniversary, isn’t it?” the Joker teases.
Then, when the Batman asks why the Riddler would send him letters, the Joker toys with him further: “Maybe he’s a fan of yours?” he says. “Or maybe he’s got a grudge against you, too. Maybe you’re the main course.”
But Reeves says not to expect to see Keoghan star as the Joker in another Batman film.
“It’s not an Easter egg scene,” Reeves told Variety. “It’s not one of those end credits Marvel or DC scenes where it’s going, like, ‘Hey, here’s the next movie!’ In fact, I have no idea when or if we would return to that character in the movies.”
Watch the full deleted scene above.
Main Image: Barry Keoghan as The Joker in a deleted scene from Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Photo Credit: Warner Bros.
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