Barry Keoghan just stepped back into Gotham’s glare. I can confirm fresh movement around The Batman Part II is pulling his Joker back into the conversation, hard. Talks are active with new talent for the sequel, and that ripple is hitting one name first. Keoghan. The laugh we met in Arkham is suddenly echoing again.
What I am hearing about Part II
Conversations are underway for Sebastian Stan to step into Matt Reeves’ gritty world. The deal is not closed, but the interest is real. When a major player circles Gotham, the rogues gallery shuffles. That puts Barry Keoghan’s Joker on the board in a new way.
Reeves built The Batman as a crime epic, not a cameo parade. Still, his Arkham tag and that later-released interrogation scene introduced Keoghan with purpose. It was a promise, not a tease. With Part II gaining momentum, that promise matters again. [IMAGE_1]
There is no official confirmation that Keoghan’s Joker appears in The Batman Part II.
Why Keoghan matters now
Keoghan changed the air with a few minutes of screen time. His Joker felt raw and bruised, more inmate than icon. The Arkham scene showed a mastermind forming in real time, one scar at a time. It was the sound of a supervillain before the suit.
Fans still talk about the way he needles Batman. He flirts with the idea of chaos, then turns it into a plan. It was unnerving, and it stuck. That is why every new casting spark hits his corner of the room. He is the villain who has not had his full dance yet.
- Keoghan’s Joker is intimate, not theatrical
- He gets under Batman’s skin, and stays there
- He suggests a deeper crime web in Gotham
If Part II widens the city, that web becomes key. A new heavy in the mix, possibly Stan, needs a chessboard. Joker is the piece that makes every move feel dangerous.
The crossover pipeline, MCU to DC
Keoghan knows both sides of the comic aisle. He brought quiet power to Druig in Marvel’s Eternals, a role built on control and doubt. That history matters here. DC keeps inviting actors who have already carried superhero weight. It is not stunt casting. It is trust in performers who can hold a mask and a moral mess at the same time.
Stan fits that profile, of course. He carries history in his face, and he can shift from wounded to ruthless in a breath. That chemistry with Robert Pattinson’s stoic Batman could be electric. If Keoghan enters the frame, even offstage, the temperature rises again. These are actors who understand silence. Reeves loves silence. You can feel a plot tightening already.
Watch for an ensemble built on tension, not volume. Reeves prefers pressure cookers, not fireworks shows.
What this could mean for the rogues gallery
The Batman ended with Gotham broken, not healed. That is fertile ground. Riddler left scars. Penguin is moving. Catwoman is gone for now. A fresh face in the sequel suggests new turf wars, new crimes, and new alliances.
This is where Keoghan’s Joker becomes a needle. He does not need the spotlight to change the story. A single conversation can bend a kingpin. A single letter can poke the Bat. That is the kind of villain who shapes a city from the cracks.
Picture the possibilities. A major antagonist drives the plot, while Joker whispers from the walls. Or Joker steps up to test a new threat, then turns the test on Batman. Either way, it deepens Pattinson’s noir path. It keeps the franchise in lean, nervy territory, closer to Prisoners than a parade of CGI. [IMAGE_2]
The big question
Does Reeves let the clown out of Arkham now, or hold him for the endgame? He is patient with his cards. He spent an entire film earning the Riddler. He will spend another film layering stakes. Keoghan’s Joker is the perfect ace to tuck away, then play when the city thinks it can breathe.
Keoghan is in the conversation for Part II’s shape. That is the headline inside the headline.
The bottom line
Barry Keoghan is the live wire running under The Batman Part II. New talks around the sequel have recharged his lane, and it shows how sharp this franchise is about casting. Bring in a heavy. Let Joker hum in the background. Then flip the switch.
If Reeves stays true to form, Gotham is about to get colder, stranger, and more human. Keoghan’s Joker is the laugh you hear before the lights go out. And yes, it is getting louder. 🎬🃏
