The Batman star Barry Keoghan has revealed that he wants his Joker to be relatable.

"[The Joker is] a bit charming and a bit hurt," the actor told GQ. "I wanted some sort of human in there behind the makeup. I want people to relate to him. . .[to know] this is a facade he puts in. [The character is] a broken-down boy."

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Keoghan's appearance as the Joker was mostly left out of The Batman's theatrical release, save for a brief voice cameo in an end-credits scene with Paul Dano's Riddler. The actor, credited as "Unseen Arkham Prisoner" in The Batman, was not confirmed to be playing the Joker until director Matt Reeves released a five-minute deleted scene that featured Robert Pattinson's Batman meeting with Keoghan's disfigured "proto-Joker" in Arkham Asylum. While a sequel to the 2022 film has been announced, Keoghan has revealed that he has not yet been invited back for The Batman 2.

A Tale of Two Jokers

The Batman's Joker is not the only live-action cinematic version of the Clown Prince of Crime expected to grace the big screen in the coming years. Joaquin Phoenix will reprise his role as Arthur Fleck/Joker in the upcoming sequel to 2019's Joker. Titled Joker: Folie à Deux, the DC film will reportedly be a musical set largely at Arkham Asylum and will feature Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The Joker sequel is scheduled to open in theaters on Oct. 4, 2024, while The Batman 2 is reportedly targeting a 2025 release.

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Keoghan is the sixth actor to portray the Joker in a live-action film. The first was Cesar Romero in the 1966 film Batman, which was set in the same continuity as the Adam West Batman series. Jack Nicholson then played the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman opposite Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader. Following an almost 20-year absence from the big screen, the Joker returned in 2008's The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan's followup to the 2005 film Batman Begins. Heath Ledger, who played the Joker in The Dark Knight, was posthumously awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

Following the conclusion of The Dark Knight Trilogy, the Joker and other Bat-centric characters were brought into the DC Extended Universe, with Jared Leto portraying the Joker in Suicide Squad (2016) and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). Phoenix played a version of the character in-between Leto's performances in Joker, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in the process.

The Batman 2 does not have a release date at this time.

Source: GQ