Eagle-eyed Batman fans have already found a key clue in the deleted Joker scene from The Batman that may tease Joker’s escape.

Fans of The Batman were delighted to see a full scene of Barry Keoghan’s Joker and Batman released yesterday. So delighted that the clip has been scoured for details to the point where a paperclip holding together Batman’s documents was reported missing after coming into the hands of the Joker.

This small little detail could point towards the fact that Barry Keoghan’s Joker will soon be escaping from Arkham. Although it’s doubtful they will build off the specific plot thread of the paperclip whenever his eventual escape does happen as it comes from a deleted scene.

In an interview from earlier this month with Variety, Matt Reeves confirmed that Barry Keoghan was the Joker in the final scene from The Batman and detailed how he approached the scene.

“I thought he would be really insecure about this and he’d probably want to find some way to get into the [Riddler’s] mindset, like in ‘Manhunter’ or ‘Mindhunter’ — this idea of profiling somebody, so you can predict his next move,” says Reeves.
Reeves decided to shoot a scene in which Batman snuck into Arkham to find an audience with a certain inmate.

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“And this guy says, ‘It’s almost our anniversary, isn’t it?’” says Reeves. “You realize that they have a relationship, and that this guy obviously did something, and Batman somehow got him into Arkham.” As they talk, Batman tells Joker he wants to know how Riddler thinks. Joker’s reply, as relayed by Reeves: “What do you mean, you want to know how he thinks? You guys think the same.”

Reeves smiles. “What he’s really doing is getting into Batman’s head,” he says. “And [Batman] is resisting this idea violently. And so that’s what that scene was. It was a scene to unsettle him.” Ultimately, Reeves thought the scene’s purpose was already accomplished in other parts of the film. So he cut it. “It wasn’t necessary,” he says. “It was one of those scenes where, given how complex the narrative was, by taking it out, it kept the story moving in a way it needed to.”

You can watch the full scene here.

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