The Batman Was Right To Cut Its Joker Scene

The Joker’s recently released deleted scene from The Batman provides the best look at Barry Keoghan’s Clown Prince of Crime yet, but the film was right to cut the scene. Matt Reeves’ The Batman is a dark and grounded new version of the iconic hero’s mythos, featuring new versions of not only Batman but also Catwoman, The Riddler, James Gordon, and The Penguin. As Batman’s arch-nemesis and most famous adversary, Joker’s tease in the final film was not surprising, and while his five-minute deleted scene was entertaining, it adds little to the movie aside from a distraction.

The Batman features numerous antagonists, from corrupt cops to the mafia, but its main villain is Paul Dano’s chilling new version of The Riddler, who takes inspiration from real-life serial killers as much as he does the comics. The Riddler executes his murderous master plan on Gotham City nearly flawlessly, but he fails to recognize Batman as his enemy, seeing him instead as a kindred spirit and potential ally in his vengeful crimes. The Riddler is disappointed by Batman’s hostility at the end of the film, but he soon makes a new friend in Arkham State Hospital: The Joker, setting up a sequel to The Batman.

The five-minute deleted scene takes place before Riddler surrenders to the GCPD, showing Batman visiting Arkham to speak to Joker about his elusive new enemy. Joker provides insights as to The Riddler’s motives and potential views of Batman, and the scene also shows Joker’s ghastly appearance. Unfortunately, the five-minute scene would didn’t add anything substantive to the movie other than revealing an iconic Batman character who’d distract viewers from an otherwise Riddler-focused film, so The Batman was right to cut it.

The Joker is by far the most dangerous and iconic member of Batman’s famous rogue’s gallery, and Batman adaptations rarely go too long before introducing their iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime. The theatrical cut of The Batman has just the right amount of screen time for its version of Joker, introducing him in the aftermath of Riddler’s scheme to acknowledge his existence and tease his future in a sequel to The Batman. Had the movie given him such a significant scene midway through its runtime, it’d have distracted from its Riddler-centric narrative.

Furthermore, the scene may showcase Barry Keoghan’s chilling performance as the Joker, complete with a seemingly New 52-inspired appearance, but it doesn’t provide any information that isn’t revealed later on. The Riddler’s origin as an orphan whose life was ruined by Gotham’s corruption, as well as his misconception about Batman was better revealed in his own Arkham scene with Batman towards the end of the movie. The Joker’s scene only serves to further prepare viewers for his future in Matt Reeves’ Batman continuity, which his shorter scene in the theatrical cut does sufficiently enough.

Matt Reeves is similarly setting up Penguin for a larger role in future The Batman properties, such as a TV series and likely a sequel, but his many scenes in the 2022 film are relevant to the plot, driving Batman and Gordon’s Riddler investigation further without overshadowing the movie’s real villain. Giving Joker more footage would have been a disservice to Paul Dano’s fantastic new version of the Riddler, but having Joker befriend his fellow supervillain worked perfectly as both a Joker tease and a hint towards the Riddler’s future. The Batman’s Joker scene was entertaining, but Reeves made the right choice by cutting it.

About The Author

David Miller
(628 Articles Published)

David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

More From David Miller