Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Batman
The Joker is back—again. In one of The Batman‘s final scenes, a foiled and jailed Riddler (Paul Dano) talks with an unseen figure in prison played by Barry Keoghan. Though brief, the scene leaves no doubt that Keoghan is playing Batman’s greatest nemesis, The Joker.
This is the third Joker Warner Bros. has introduced in the last few years. In 2016’s Suicide Squad, Jared Leto played an erratic Joker with “damaged” literally tattooed across his forehead. Then Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for playing the Joker in a dead-serious take on the villain in 2019’s Joker. So, currently, there are three different Jokers roaming three different Gothams, which is scary and more than a little confusing.
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Here’s everything you need to know about the future of the Joker in the DC Entertainment Universe (DCEU).
How we meet an unseen Joker in The Batman
By the end of the film, Batman has captured the Riddler, though that was the Riddler’s plan all along. The Riddler is under the impression that he and Batman share the same goal: To team up and rid Gotham of corruption. But Batman sticks to his creed: He does not kill people.
He manages to figure out that The Riddler has taken to social media to amass a violent, fringe army of disempowered men who have armed themselves to attack a mayoral candidate who preaches hope, along with her followers. It’s not an accident that these radicalized men target a prominent Black woman.
The film’s parallels to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack are eerie—in the film, as in real life, a mob planned an attack on social media and armed themselves, and specifically targeted certain legislators, most of whom were women and women of color. Director Matt Reeves tells TIME that any parallels were accidental—the script was written in 2017.
Batman and Catwoman manage to foil the attack, to the Riddler’s dismay. He begins to lament his failure in…
Source : time
