The Batman deleted scene introduces Barry Keoghan's Joker

The Batman continues to take flight at the global box office, and the Matt Reeves movie has just unveiled an important deleted scene. 

The creepy sequence introduces Barry Keoghan's leering, mutilated Joker who was reduced to a glancing climactic appearance in the theatrical cut of the movie. The deleted scene, previously alluded to by Reeves, attains a Silence of the Lambs vibe as Batman (Bruce Wayne) visits Arkham Asylum in an attempt to gain perspective on the maniacal Riddler (Paul Dano). Of course, the Joker is the only one possessing such criminal insight, and it sets up a neat battle of wits over the course of five minutes.

The exceptionally well-shot and scored sequence largely keeps Keoghan's full profile out of focus. Instead, Reeves allows the odd shot of an emaciated scalp, burned hands and horribly masticated lips to form their own impression. The insidious presence of Michael Giacchino's Riddler theme also underscores the Joker's philosophy that Batman and The Riddler are essentially the same person albeit fighting for different causes.

Naturally, this leaves us with a lot of questions, namely, will Barry Keoghan's Joker be the main villain in The Batman 2? Matt Reeves has played down such suggestions, although this may be a smokescreen as he works with Warner Bros to get The Batman sequel off the ground. 

Perhaps this iteration of the Joker will be a Thanos-like construct, hovering in the background over the course of several movies before stepping forward to take his bow? We do know that the two main villains in The Batman, Riddler and The Penguin (Colin Farrell), are alive come the end of the movie. So, perhaps the Joker will extend his malevolent influence through them?

We've already speculated on the comic book storylines we want to see adapted in The Batman 2. In particular, we'd love to see an adaptation of Grant Morrison's classic Arkham Asylum, and Keoghan's demonic-looking Joker would appear to set that up. 

As with The Riddler, we're left with so many questions. While we await answers, you may want to take a trip into Gotham City again. Click here to book your tickets for The Batman and tweet us @Cineworld with your Joker movie theories.