The Batman star Barry Keoghan has shared a sweet tribute to the actors who played the before him, as his chilling portrayal was revealed in a deleted scene.
Director Matt Reeves shared an unseen clip from the movie, of Robert Pattinson’s Batman meeting with the Joker in Arkham State Hospital.
Sharing the clip, Barry, 29, paid tribute to the likes of Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, Jared Leto and , who have played the iconic villain.
‘Honestly I am stuck for words but I am very very BLESSED to play this role after the AMAZING AMAZING Actors before me,’ he wrote. ‘Here’s my version. Enjoy.’
The deleted scene, which fans could access by answering three riddles, inspired by Paul Dano’s Riddler, saw the Joker remark to Batman that it was ‘almost their anniversary’, hinting at a history they’ve previously shared off-camera.
As Bruce Wayne tried to glean information from the Joker about the serial killer he was hunting across Gotham City, the villain took a look at a file brought passed to him by Batman.
The hero questioned why the Riddler was leaving notes for him at the sites of his murders, hoping that the Joker could shed further light on the mystery.
The scene ended with the Joker menacingly taunting Batman, suggesting that the hero might actually agree with the Riddler’s decision to target and murder the corrupt leaders of the city.
In the actual film, fans only saw the tiniest glimpse of Barry’s Joker, credited as ‘Unseen Arkham Prisoner’.
During a previous interview with Total Film, Matt explained that the scene between the Batman and the Joker was cut because he felt it had become unnecessary to the plot of the film, which still ended up lasting almost three hours.
‘It was just one of those things where, in the course of the movie, what that scene was doing, other scenes were also doing, and so we didn’t need the scene,’ he said.
‘But as a standalone, that scene is very eerie and creepy and cool.’
Ledger’s Joker is perhaps the most iconic, after the actor was widely praised for his performance in The Dark Knight in 2008.
Jack was introduced as the villain in Tim Burton’s 1989 movie Batman, while Jared played the role in Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Joaquin was also praised for his portrayal, in the 2019 movie Joker.
