New Batman trailer teases first image of new Joker – and we know who it is

Update: Warner Bros. has now released a deleted scene of Barry Keoghan as The Joker in The Batman. After appearing briefly in the Matt Reeves movie, this new scene gives us our best look at the Clown Prince of Crime yet. 

Check out the deleted scene below:

Original Story: Warner Bros. has uploaded a new Japanese trailer for The Batman. The most interesting part of the new footage is that it looks to give us a glimpse at this universe's Joker.

During the trailer, a bunch of newspaper clippings can be briefly seen sprawled out. Naturally, the internet has done what the internet does and scoured every inch of what was shown – and what do you know, they've found something. A photo of Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne can be seen in the collection of snippets but it's the shadowy figure with a Joker-like smile in the backdrop that has the web ablaze. 

So who is up for the part of Joker this time around? Is Jared Leto back? Or has Joaquin Phoenix been convinced to don the clown makeup once again? While not officially confirmed, the new Joker is looking this time to be played by Irish actor Barry Keoghan. Best known for his roles in The Eternals, The Green Knight, Dunkirk and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Keoghan would be the seventh live-action actor to portray the character. 

Check out the trailer for yourself below:

Warner Bros. and director Matt Reeves have suspiciously kept Keoghan's inclusion in the cast quiet since the film was announced, however, it leaked out in a description attached to the original The Batman trailer (via Batman-News). It's here that it was found that the actor is playing Gotham City Police Department officer Stanley Merkel, an early partner of James Gordon in the comics. 

Still, with Keoghan strangely absent from all of the trailers released so far, the internet is not convinced. The biggest (potential) signifier that the Joker is being set up in The Batman came directly from the actor's brother, who shared a post to social media (via CultureCrave) confirming speculation. The post was then deleted, but not before being screenshotted.  

The last bit of information concerning the role comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which has had "multiple sources" tell them that Warner Bros. is testing two different versions of The Batman. One of these will include a "certain actor" and one of them won't. That actor is believed to be Keoghan. So if the Joker does appear, it's sounding like it would be near the end of the movie, or in a post-credits scene. 

Then there's even the laugh at the end of the Japanese trailer, which could either be Paul Dano's Riddler, or a direct nod to the appearance of Joker. We'll just have to wait and see. 

The Batman is set to premiere in theatres globally on March 4th, 2022. Directed by Matt Reeves, it stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell.