A series starring Barry Keoghan as the Joker is reportedly in development at HBO Max after the success of The Batman spin-off The Penguin, but not all fans are happy about the news.
The Batman director Matt Reeves established a new shared universe focusing on Batman with the 2022 movie, and was the executive producer of HBO’s The Penguin as well as Amazon Prime’s animated series Batman: Caped Crusader.
And now there are rumours, as discussed on the Marvelvision podcast, that HBO is developing another spinoff focusing on Keoghan’s Joker, who was briefly seen in the first movie – neither Reeves nor The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc have confirmed anything, but they have hinted at more spinoffs being in the works.
In the movie, Keoghan was credited as “Unseen Arkham Prisoner”, but Reeves later confirmed that the character was the Joker. Warner Bros. released a deleted scene featuring Keoghan’s Joker and Robert Pattinson’s Batman in March 2022, three weeks after the movie’s release, and it was well received by audiences.
However, fans on the r/batman subreddit don’t appear to be impressed, one quoting Michael Jai White in Gambol in the 2008 Batman movie The Dark Knight and saying, “Enough from the clown!”
Barry Keoghan and co-star Jeffrey Wright attend ‘The Batman’ World Premiere on March 01, 2022 in New York City. CREDIT: Arturo Holmes/FilmMagic via Getty Images
Another wrote, “I think we learned that Joker doesn’t work without Batman, didn’t we?” while the original poster appeared more open to the idea, replying, “If Reeves and LeFranc are involved, I’m really interested to see what they can deliver I have to say.”
One more said, “If this show is as well-crafted as The Batman and The Penguin, I’m at least intrigued.” Others, meanwhile, described Keoghan’s cameo in The Batman as “simply bad” and “an eye roll”, with one more saying that they should “bench the Joker” for a while.
When Vanity Fair asked Keoghan about his role in the movie earlier this year, the actor neither confirmed nor denied involvement, and there’s been no confirmation from the studio as yet.
Meanwhile, Reeves is also set to serve as a producer on the animated movie Dynamic Duo, based on Batman’s sidekick Robin.
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