The Batman proved that the Age of the Spoiler is over, but fair warning because Warner Bros. just released a deleted scene featuring Barry Keoghan's Joker. While The Joker is one of the most re-made villains in cinema, fans were immediately enthralled by Keoghan's new iteration -- proving that there is always room for one more Clown Prince of Crime. However, the deleted scene wasn't just an excuse to show more of Keoghan's Joker. Along with a lot of character development, there was seemingly an unspoken, chemical-filled backstory packed into the five-minute clip.
Keoghan was supposed to play Detective Stanley Merkel, but that was all part of an elaborate ploy to keep his true role a secret. Yet, the hoax -- which included filming fake scenes -- failed miserably, and rumors circulated for months that Keoghan was actually playing a version of The Joker in The Batman. The rumors became so substantive that director Matt Reeves spoiled the Joker reveal before the film even came out.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was updated on March 28, 2022, to reflect Matt Reeves' confirmation that The Batman's Joker did not fall into a vat of acid but suffers from a congenital disease.
In the theatrical run, Keoghan's Joker only had a single scene. After Batman won the day and left Paul Dano's Riddler to rot in Arkham, The Joker made himself known. He complimented Riddler's murderous efforts, told him a riddle, and the two became friends. That hinted that this iteration of The Joker could be one of the most terrifying yet -- simply because he didn't have to be a lone wolf. He was already allying himself with others villains who had a grudge against Batman.
During that scene, The Joker told The Riddler that "Gotham loves a comeback story." While that could've referred to a possible Riddler resurgence, many fans hypothesized that The Joker was also referring to himself. That would have meant that the Caped Crusader had put The Joker behind bars before the events of The Batman, and it turned out that those fans were correct.
The newly released deleted scene showed Batman going to Arkham to ask for The Joker's advice on how to catch The Riddler. The Joker immediately confirmed that the two of them had a history. From there, the clown proceeded to correctly identify Riddler's motives, methods and the fact that Batman was personally involved with the whole thing. That showed how intuitive Keoghan's Joker will be the next time fans get to see him.
While the scene reveals Joker's personality, the most important part of the trailer is The Joker's scars and the implications they have on his backstory. While his face remained slightly out of focus, it was clearly scarred, burned and disfigured. More importantly, though, the back of Joker's head and his hands were also terribly scarred. In fact, it looked like he could have fallen into a vat of chemicals… which just so happens to be one of The Joker's most common origin stories.
The Joker's first appearance came in Batman #1 (1940), where he didn't have a backstory, but 1951's Detective Comics #168 "The Man Behind the Red Hood!" gave a reason for his iconic look. The comic showed The Joker diving into a vat of chemical water to avoid being caught by Batman. Since then, there have been countless different versions of Jokers falling into vats of chemicals -- most notably in the 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke.
However, with the exception of Jack Nicholson's iteration, live-action has steered away from depicting The Joker's chemical-filled backstory -- opting for a more grounded or mysterious origin. Now, this new deleted scene suggests Matt Reeves is putting a stop to that trend. He grounded The Batman in the comic book lore, so it makes perfect sense that The Joker would also have a horribly grotesque, comic-inspired origin. Despite this, Reeves revealed that his Joker's origin story isn't connected to a vat of chemicals but biology. "He's got this congenital disease. He can never stop smiling... And he's had this very dark reaction to it, and he's had to spend a life of people looking at him in a certain way and he knows how to get into your head," Reeves said in an interview with IGN. With this new information, it seems Reeves is fulfilling his promise of delivering a new version of the characters that still feels reminiscent of the comics.
To see The Joker and The Riddler bond, watch The Batman, now in theaters.