Deleted “Arkham” Scene from ‘The Batman’ Teases Major Villain
In a surprise move, Warner Bros. and The Batman director Matt Reeves have shared a lengthy deleted scene that gives us our first full look at a major foe.
Major spoilers for The Batman ahead. Return from whence you came if you haven’t seen the film yet.
The penultimate scene in the film gave us a tease of what’s to come, now that the Riddler is locked in Arkham and the Penguin is about to climb up Gotham’s criminal underworld. It turns out the Joker already exists in this new Batman continuity, and he’s pretty much Riddler’s new neighbor. Yup, those two will be up to no good. The scene also confirmed that, exactly as rumored, Barry Keoghan is playing this new iteration of the legendary villain. And fans were perfectly content with all that. But Warner Bros. and Matt Reeves aren’t going silent just yet…
As you can see, there’s a lot to unpack here. This deleted scene definitely takes place before most of the events depicted in the film, and would have altered our perception of the entire Riddler case early on — the Joker basically works out Riddler’s motivations while Batman is looking elsewhere for clues that make more sense. The big reveal about why the villain was murdering members from Gotham’s elite came off as simple yet surprising, so maybe it wasn’t the best of ideas to have the Joker throwing his on-the-money thoughts around during the first half.
Moreover, having the Joker casually show up in the middle of the investigation would have divided both the audiences’ attention and the discourse around the film, potentially lessening the impact of Paul Dano and Colin Farrell’s incredible performances as The Batman‘s main villains. One can see why this was cut entirely from the theatrical release, though we could argue it clarifies much of the film’s political narrative and Bruce Wayne’s stance regarding Gotham’s police forces and politicians. It’s certainly a meaty scene that will ignite tons of explosive conversation in the coming days, but so far, folks are digging the (extremely) creepy looks of the new “Clown Prince of Crime.”
Francisco J. Ruiz is that guy who has watched Jurassic Park a thousand times and loves Star Wars. His hunger for movies is only matched by his love for video games. He graduated in English Studies from the University of Malaga, in Spain. As he keeps writing about what he enjoys (and doesn’t) for websites all over, he’s continuing his studies.
