James Gunn shoots down rumours of Joker TV series: “Absolutely no truth to this”

There have been rumours that Barry Keoghan would be reprising the role of Joker for a TV series set between the events of The Batman Part II and The Batman Part III. However, DC Studios co-head James Gunn quickly shot down the rumours. “No there is absolutely no truth to this,” Gunn wrote on Threads. “A Joker series is not being discussed nor has even come up at this time. Sorry.“

Given how successful The Penguin series has been, it sounded plausible that DC Studios might have been considering a similar series to bridge the gap between the next two Batman movies. But alas, a Joker TV series doesn’t sound like it’s in the works.

Keoghan briefly played the role of Joker (albeit unnamed) in one of the final scenes of Matt Reeves’ The Batman. He also appeared in a deleted scene, which was released just weeks after the movie premiered. The deleted scene featured Batman (Robert Pattinson) visiting Joker in Arkham Asylum to get his perspective on Gotham’s latest villain, The Riddler. Reeves has previously explained that he cut the scene because it didn’t fit into the larger narrative.

“Not because anyone asked me to cut it, but [I didn’t think] it was necessary,” Reeves said. “But it’s a really cool scene with that same unseen prisoner in Arkham. There was an earlier scene where Batman, because he’s getting these cards and letters from the Riddler, and he’s thinking, ‘Why is this guy writing to me? I’m supposed to be anonymous and he’s putting a lens on me. I don’t like that,’ and so he goes to kind of profile this kind of serial killer.“

Reeves continued, “And you see him meeting with somebody who is obviously a serial killer himself, who, because it’s not Batman’s origin, but it is the origins of all these other characters, you’re seeing a version of this character who, yes, when you see the unknown prisoner, you’re like, ‘well, gee, I think that’s who that is.’ Well, that is who that is, but he’s not yet that character.“

While it seems likely that we will see Keoghan’s Joker again (perhaps even in The Batman Part II), Reeves told Keoghan from the start that he couldn’t promise that this would be a recurring role. “I said to Barry, right from the beginning, ‘Look, I don’t know where this is going to go. I can’t promise that it’ll even ever come back. I don’t know,’” Reeves said. “And I still feel that way now. I’m not sure exactly.“

The Batman Part II will finally start shooting next year and is currently slated for an October 2, 2026 release.