We know that a sequel to The Batman has been given the greenlight and that Robert Pattinson will back in the cape and cowl and Matt Reeves will be back to write and direct the film. Beyond that, we know basically nothing about the movie. One thing many fans have guessed in that the next film will focus on Barry Keoghan’s Joker as the main villain, but if that’s the case, nobody has told him that yet.
In the final minutes of The Batman, Paul Dano’s Riddler meets the newest version of The Joker, played by Eternals’ Barry Keoghan. He’s only in the movie for a couple of minutes at the end, but he got fans very excited for the future. However, the actor tells GQ that so far he’s beard nothing about The Batman 2, but as soon as he does, he’ll be ready. Keoghan says simply…
As soon as that call comes, I’m there man, I’m there.
The Batman 2 was officially confirmed as a project in early development at CinemaCon earlier this year, one of several DC movies we're excited to see, but at this point the fact that the movie is happening is really all we have. We know that the script for the Batman sequel is being handed by Reeves and Mattson Tomlin but both men have several other projects as a producer that he’s also working on, so there’s know way to know how much time they'll be able to give the script. One certainly assumes Warner Bros. is hopeful that the next Batman movie will be getting in front of cameras sooner rather than later.
But it could still be a couple of years before “the call” comes for Barry Keoghan. Matt Reeves may have put The Joker at the end of The Batman because he ha specific ideas of where a potential sequel might go. If so, the script writing process for a sequel may go quickly if there is already an idea of what that story will be. But Reeves may have put The Joker in just for fun, as a cool moment for fans, with no specific plans on doing anything with it.
While we can’t say with certainty that The Joker will be the main antagonist in the sequel to The Batman that certainly would seem to be the indication. Although it’s also possible the plan might be to keep the character in the background a bit longer. The fact that we’re getting a second Batman movie almost guarantees a third film, as these things always happen at least as trilogies. Perhaps Joker will have a larger role, but not be the main villain in the next film, building toward him as something even bigger to be overcome down the road. If you need to catch up on the long history of Batman on screen, checkout how to watch the Batman movies in order.
