Potential SPOILERS for The Batman to follow. Warner Bros.’ official cast list for The Batman may have just revealed, or at the very least offered some tantalizing clues, regarding the role of Eternals star Barry Keoghan. There have been rumors and speculation circulating for some time surrounding how the actor will play into proceedings, with the cast list describing Keoghan’s role as “Unseen Arkham Prisoner.” Revealed by The Batman Film News, the mystery continues thanks to another credit listing Mike Marino as “Prosthetics Design -The Penguin & Unseen Arkham Prisoner” — which heavily suggests that Keoghan will undergo some sort of transformation for whatever character he is on board to play.

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These newest details line up undeniably well with the rest of the recent rumors that have been circulating around Barry Keoghan and his role in The Batman. For some time, there has been speculation that Keoghan will appear briefly in The Batman as the newest iteration of The Clown Prince of Crime himself, The Joker. Following several rumors, the speculation was fueled further by Keoghan’s own brother, Eric, who posted the following text before hastily deleting it; “So it’s finally out My Brother playing the JOKER in the new Batman Unreal Stuff.” So, if nothing else, things are certainly getting curiouser and curiouser.

Warner Bros. Decided Between Two Versions of The Batman, Settling on the Cut Including Barry Keoghan

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Several months ago, reports stated that Warner Bros. had been umm-ing and ahh-ing over which cut of The Batman to release. These reports claimed that the deciding factor between them was the inclusion of Barry Keoghan. While it has seemingly been revealed that the actor will play GCPD Officer Stanley Merkel, a conflicted character with ties to James Gordon, there has been speculation ever since that he will, in fact, be this franchise’s version of The Joker.

Barry Keoghan is a serious up-and-comer, with the actor’s star rising fast thanks to roles in the likes of Eternals, The Green Knight, and Dunkirk. So, it stands to reason that the actor could be playing a major presence like the Joker, rather than making a small cameo as Stanley Merkel. Of course, it’s also possible that, with director Matt Reeves recently describing the movie as an origin story for the villains, that Stanley and Joker could be one-and-the-same…

Starring Robert Pattinson (Tenet, The Lighthouse) as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (Love & Mercy, 12 Years a Slave) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (No Time to Die, Westworld) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (Transformers, The Plot Against America) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (The Magnificent Seven, Interrogation) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Jayme Lawson (Farewell Amor) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes, Black Panther) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (The Gentlemen, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Oswald Cobblepot.

The Batman is scheduled to premiere in New York City on March 1, 2022, and will be theatrically released on March 4.