Warner Bros. Has Big Plans For Barry Keoghan's Joker After The Batman (RUMOR)

DC is about to triple its villains. Director Matt Reeves earned a lot of acclaim for his new take on the Caped Crusader in 2022's The Batman, but it's fair to say that star Robert Pattinson was ultimately overshadowed by the big bads who running throughout the script: Paul Dano's Riddler with his David Fincher-inspired approach, John Turturro's creepy mafia boss Carmine Falcone, and especially Colin Farrell as the scene-stealing penguin Oswald Cobb (a character so attractive that he's now was incorporated into his own successful “The Penguin” series on HBO). But don't forget that there was even a last minute tease for another DC's main antagonist, Barry Keoghan's Joker, was given even more screen time in a deleted scene that Warner Bros. dropped shortly after the film's release. Since then, there's been speculation that the upcoming The Batman: Part II would focus a lot more on Gotham's famous Clown Prince of Crime, but we're now getting word that the studio is planning some really big things for him in the future.

The rumor comes from the Marvelvision podcast, hosted by film blogger Derek Faraci and former critic Devin Faraci (a reliable source of insider information, but who, it should be noted, has had a controversial past in the film critic community) in their latest episode Related to the ongoing HBO series “The Penguin.” In a scoop that /Film can independently confirm and that we've heard from our own sources in recent days, Faraci reveals that WB is looking at future plans for the Joker – some of which could include a Joker-centric spin-off series , which would lead to a big appearance in the third “The Batman” movie. Read on for more details!

The success of The Penguin could have broader implications than we ever imagined. As popular as Batman has always been among fans and the general audience, there's no denying that audiences continue to find themselves drawn to the superhero's villains. (With the recent flop “Joker: Folie à Deux,” that may have finally dried up for a while, although studio officials are certainly hoping that's an aberration.) If this latest development is to be believed, it will The Joker will have a successful big return to the small screen And coming to the screen in the next few years. About 21 minutes into the latest Marvelvision podcast episode, Devin Faraci reveals:

“Apparently Warner Bros. has spoken to Barry Keoghan about returning to The Batman franchise, and as far as I know, I don't know if he's in.” [‘The Batman: Part II’] or not, but he is the main villain of [‘The Batman: Part III’]. And the reason they're seriously talking about it is because the plan is to make a Joker-centric series that combines “II” and “III” in the same way that “The Penguin” did. [‘The Batman’] And [‘The Batman: Part II’].”

However, he's quick to warn that it's unclear whether this will go in exactly the same direction as The Penguin, with the Joker being the protagonist of the series, much like Oz Cobb. According to reports, it could either be a full-fledged Joker series or, as Faraci puts it, just “a series that features the Joker.” That leaves WB and Matt Reeves some wiggle room, but it's certainly consistent with previous reports that Reeves wanted to expand the series in a villain-centric direction. Everything could change by the time The Batman: Part II is released (which has been pushed back a full year to 2026). So stay tuned for more updates.