Way before Matt Reeves' The Batman was released, a lot of fans were hoping that there will be a face-off between Robert Pattinson's Caped Crusader and Joaquin Phoenix's Joker. While the possibility is obviously slim since Joker was set in the 1980s, there were some that are speculating that perhaps Joker and The Batman are set in the same universe. Recently, Reeves finally addressed the possibility of a crossover between the two DC films and it looks like those hopes have died down.
In an interview with Total Film (via Games Radar), Reeves was asked if there are plans to have a crossover between the two films to which he ruled out the possibility as it was always intended for them to be set in their own separate universe.
Reeves said, "Not really. I was finishing the Planet of the Apes movies when I first came on board, which is 2017. It's been five years in the making. When I was working on the script, and got deep into the script, Joker hadn't come out yet. I didn't know what Joker was or what it was going to be, and then I became aware of it once we were very deep into the film, and the fact that they were grounding things in a way that was reminiscent of things that we were doing, that wasn't planned. Joker was always meant to be a very specific standalone that Joaquin [Phoenix], and Todd [Phillips] were doing. There was never really any discussion of crossover. But it was interesting to see that we were trying to ground our stories and that audiences were excited about the fact that you could take Gotham and make it feel so much like our world. That was something from the beginning that I had wanted to do."
It's not really surprising that there were no plans for the two films to have a crossover since it's been clearly established that Joker is set in the 1980s while The Batman is in the present day so there is no logical sense for Pattinson's Batman and Phoenix's Joker to have a face-off. It's also been established that they each have their own universe and are not part of a shared universe like the DCEU so there's really no way for them to have a crossover one way or another. It might be disappointing to hear, but it is the case that we have to accept.
While the crossover will never happen, Pattinson's Batman can still face off the Joker in his own universe. After all, there have been rumors that Barry Keoghan is actually playing the Joker in The Batman (although if you have already seen the film, you know the answer to that). Reeves is planning to have his own Batman universe that will possibly span a trilogy and spinoff shows for HBO Max so the Joker will definitely appear here at some point. As for Phoenix's Joker, there are also rumors that there will be a sequel which we will find out soon if it's true.
Also Read: The Batman Director Teases Arkham Asylum Spinoff Series in the Works
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