Matt Reeves has really scored big this month with his new Batman movie. I just have to say, I was very excited to see Ben Affleck‘s solo Batman movie. Can a version of that still happen in the future? I really do hope so, but when it comes to these movies, it’s best to have the never say never mentality. As for The Batman, it continues to score big at the box office with the money pouring in. That’s good for DC, and it’s much bigger than people think. What Matt Reeves has accomplished with The Batman sets up much more than just a singular cinematic universe.
Even before Warner Bros. established the DC Cinematic Universe with Man of Steel back in 2013, they already had a lesser version of that with the Arrowverse. Some fans may argue that the Arrowverse is better than the DCEU and that is legitimate. I have personally found it hard to keep up with what is happening in the Arrowverse since you have to watch every show to keep track on what’s happening with the whole universe. That’s a lot of television to watch. It’s far less time-consuming if you just watch the movies of the DCEU, which is still growing.
As for The Batman, Matt Reeves has made it clear several times that he has always intended to keep his Batman movie separate from the DCEU. I say why not? If you’re a fan of comics, you know full well that not everything is contained in one universe. There is always room for an expanded multiverse, which can lead to us seeing all kinds of variations of our most favorite characters. From Old Man Logan, to Flashpoint Batman, the amount of variants is practically endless. That is the beauty of having a multiverse and all the possibilities it creates. It should be no different for the cinematic universes.
Heck, it has already happened when Ezra Miller‘s Flash when he appeared in the CW Flash series. Speaking of the Flash, we already know his movie is going to set up the multiverse and we’re likely going to see non-DCEU characters crossover into the main universe. I think that’s an exciting concept. After the Flash (which has been delayed once again to 2023), reboots the DCEU, I think it’s more than likely we’ll be seeing Robert Pattinson’s Batman crossover. I’m not sure if Matt Reeves will want that just yet, but I’m confident it will happen eventually.
Before that does happen, I’m sure Matt Reeves will work further on establishing this new corner of the DC multiverse. He has already confirmed that two HBO Max spin-off shows are in the works (one for the Penguin and the other for Arkham Asylum), and he’s already working on the sequel. Both Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson have expressed what villains they would like to use for The Batman sequels and I’m all for every villain they mentioned. Will it be Mr. Freeze? Or maybe it is finally time to see the Court of Owls in a live-action movie? You know what? Why not have all of them in one movie? The Batman was able to work with multiple villains in the movie and each one got the appropriate amount of screen time that they needed.
If I had to pick which villains to see in the sequel, I would lean towards the ones we haven’t seen in movies before. That, or maybe the villains that weren’t done much justice in previous adaptations. You know, like Mr. Freeze. I’ll take whatever ideas Matt Reeves has in mind, but as Batman fans we all have to know about one particular villain. Without a doubt, we all want to see his take on Batman’s greatest enemy, the one and only Joker. We did get to see a glimpse of what he could look like by the end of The Batman, but it was nothing too clear. Seeing this new Joker (played by Barry Keoghan) wasn’t too surprising, but it did leave us with some questions.
This Joker was already a prisoner locked away long before the events of The Batman even took place. Has Batman encountered this Joker before? What is his origins story? And what will be his role in other Batman movies going forward? Given that he is the Joker, he will surely have a larger role in the sequels. I do emphasize on sequels because I don’t think he should be the main antagonist in the next sequel. We know that he has been established in this new Batman world and he’ll likely pop up again. The thing is, we have seen enough Joker fighting Batman in all kinds of adaptations. I think it’s too soon to see another version of that battle play out once again in the next sequel.
I do think Matt Reeves should go with some villains we haven’t seen before for the sequel. Even if he does, he still probably has a plan for this Joker. And speaking of which, if you haven’t seen it already, go watch the deleted scene on YouTube where Batman visits him in prison. Our vision of the Joker was still scarce, but we got a much better look at him than in the movie itself. Compared to other Joker adaptations, this one had a far more grotesque look to him. And you thought Heath Ledger’s Joker looked like he came out of a horror movie, right? Well, this one is that on steroids.
If you think this Joker looks the way he does because of a dip in Ace Chemicals, think again. Matt Reeves has recently revealed in an interview with Variety that his origins story is far different than the other takes on the Joker. According to him, this Joker has this appearance because he suffers from some kind of congenital disease. Unlike other Jokers, this one was born with a disease that caused him to smile all the time. Even as a child, others saw that horrific grin on his face and in his mind, he believed it was the world playing a sick joke on him. This would lead to this Joker’s nihilistic view of the world and would eventually lead into conflict with the Batman.
This is a very interesting take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Matt Reeves has certainly given us something unique and I’m sure we all want to see more of it. After learning of this new origins, I’m sure we’ll get an even more horrific look at this Joker once he becomes a central villain in a sequel. After the success of The Batman, I say Matt Reeves has earned the right to show us what he can do.
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