The Batman Director Matt Reeves Addresses The Difficulty Of Creating A New Joker After DC Spinoff Rumors Debunked

The challenges of creating the Joker for The Batman universe given the DC character’s on-screen legacy have been discussed by director Matt Reeves. While The Penguin TV show has expanded more on Oz Cobb in Reeves’ The Batman universe, there is another major DC player that fans are waiting to see more of following his introduction in the 2022 film. Despite only having a single appearance in the theatrical cut, along with a deleted scene that was released later, Reeves may have just given a better idea of what is going on with Joker in his franchise.




In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, not long after James Gunn debunked that a Joker spinoff show was in the works for Barry Keoghan’s character, Matt Reeves was asked if it is tricky to reinvent the Clown Prince of Crime, following a lot of popular iterations of him. Reeves stressed that it is all about finding “a fresh way to do it,” while sharing the following:

Matt Reeves: Anytime you’re going to approach any of these characters, you have to find a fresh way to do it. So that makes it incredibly daunting. At the same time, this version of Penguin is a version of Penguin that no one had ever seen. The only way to do it is to feel like you’re earning your place because otherwise you’re just doing more, and people are going like, “Well, we’ve seen it, so what do you got for us?” So how can it be the thing we love, but also something we haven’t seen? That’s always the challenge. So with a character like that, that would have to be the bar.



While Reeves may have introduced Joker towards the ending of The Batman, it was never made clear what the direction of this version would be for the Elseworlds-based universe. Though Keoghan has expressed a willingness to return and Reeves is open to exploring the character, it sounds like ensuring this version of the Joker stands apart is a focus, which could have its own challenges in terms of fitting him into future stories. Given Joker is such an integral part of Batman’s mythology, the character deserves the proper time to have the right plot figured out before he takes center stage.


Based on Reeves’ latest comments, they don’t want Keoghan’s Joker to be the main villain for the sake of it, unless there is a refreshing story that hasn’t really been explored in other live-action Batman movies and TV shows. Given how many actors have played Joker in live-action and had their own respective story set up against their Batman, Reeves simply doesn’t want it to feel too repetitive. Even Joker’s visual looks in The Batman universe indicate that they wanted to try something very different that hadn’t been explored before in past Batman adaptations.


It makes perfect sense that introducing a new live-action Joker comes with its challenges, especially for a world as intricate and thought-out as the one found in The Batman. As Joker has been used more in live-action than almost every Batman villain in existence, it’s not going to hurt the franchise if they don’t use him in a big way, at least in the foreseeable future. But for now, the world will have to wait and see what The Batman universe has in store for Keoghan’s Joker whenever they decide to bring him back into the fold.

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Source: THR