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First there's no HBO spinoff, now he might not be in The Batman: Part II? Barry Keoghan's Joker is having One Bad Day™

Just days after James Gunn shut down rumors of a Joker HBO spinoff à la The Penguin, Barry Keoghan revealed to Josh Hororwitz that he has "not heard anything" about a role in The Batman: Part II

Barry Keoghan The Joker — Image credit: Warner Bros.

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Thu Nov 21 2024

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"Whatever doesn't kill you," Heath Ledger's Joker once said in The Dark Knight, "simply makes you stranger." If that's true, then Barry Keoghan's Joker could very well be the strangest of them to date, since fatal news seems to keep popping up for the character. Recently, the Saltburn actor did an interview with Josh Horowitz that makes his return as the Clown Prince of Crime in Matt Reeves The Batman: Part II feel kind of unlikely, and that's not even the only ill omen this Joker has suffered this month.

Let's begin with the rumors of a Joker HBO series, which started popping up on social media in early November. Despite the lack of official confirmation, the rumor made perfect sense, as The Batman spinoff The Penguin was earning more viewers every single episode. Couldn't Arkham's most infamous inmate pull in the same viewers? Perhaps, but at least not for now. On November 8, DC Studios head James Gunn took to Threads to debunk the rumor, saying that "A Joker series is not being discussed nor has even come up at this time" (which Variety later reported).

Cut to November 18, when Barry Keoghan was discussing his very brief appearance as the DC Comics villain with Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused podcast. Keoghan credited others who have played The Joker with "iconic performances," but could not speak to his own future in the character's clown shoes.

"I am going to say," Keoghan told Horowitz at the 36:45 mark of the interview, "If the opportunity came about, yes, I would to love explore and, given the opportunity, really dive into it. But I'm not being contacted and I have not heard anything."

Ouch. You know, for a guy who's spent 84 years going toe-to-toe with the World's Greatest Detective, The Joker sure is struggling to deal with Hollywood these days. Think about it - even though we've discussed a couple of serious blows to the character's future here, we haven't even touched on the box office failure of October's Folie à Deux.

The Penguin is streaming on Max now. The Batman: Part II is slated for release October 2, 2026. The Joker, sadly, is in neither of them.

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.