A lot of fans are certainly looking forward to Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II for many reasons. Chief among them, however, is the fact that the end of The Batman teased the appearance of The Joker, who's being played in this universe by Barry Keoghan. At this point, what we know about The Batman sequel is fairly limited, including whether or not Keoghan's Joker will actually appear in it. It turns out even the actor doesn't know, though if he does play the role, he is well aware of just how big a responsibility it is.
The Joker is a big role no matter how you look at it. He's one of the most popular characters in all of comic books, which has resulted in him becoming one of the most popular characters in movies. Two different actors have won Oscars playing Joker, which is an incredible statistic. Speaking with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Barry Keoghan admitted that taking on the role is a really big deal, although, at this point, he apparently knows nothing about what the future holds for him. Keoghan said...
Again, you know, it’s iconic and to the people performing it, you know, it’s just iconic performances and it’s a big one. But I am going to say that, you know, if the opportunity came about, yes I’d love to explore and, given that opportunity, really dive into it. But, I’ve not been contacted and I’ve not heard anything so I can’t, yeah.
The fact that Barry Keoghan hasn't heard anything about The Batman: Part II certainly gives us an indication of where the state of the film is at this point. A recent report indicated that the script might actually be done, and while James Gunn recently debunked that report, indications are that it may be very close to completion. Andy Serkis indicated filming could start early next year.
Of course, there may be a reason that Barry Keoghan hasn't heard anything about the Joker in the future of Matt Reeves' Batman franchise and that's that he may not actually be a part of The Batman: Part II. A recent rumor indicated that the Joker may actually be the primary antagonist for The Batman: Part III, and there also might be a Joker-focused series, similar to the recently concluded The Penguin series on Max, set in between The Batman: Part II and Part III. If that's the case, then perhaps The Joker won't appear in the next film or, similar to the first film, will only have a small part.
Still, one has to wonder if the actor might know a little bit more than he's letting on. Matt Reeves certainly had some purpose in putting The Joker in the final moments of The Batman, and even if he did not have a specific plan for the character at that point, it seems just sort of impossible that he would have included Joker without plans to do something with him sooner rather than later.
