Why Barry Keoghan’s Joker Looks So Scarred In The Batman

Although his appearance was brief in 2022’s The Batman, Barry Keoghan’s new version of the Joker features quite a bit of facial scarring. Seen in the cell next to Paul Dano’s Riddler, this early Joker was also meant to have an interaction with Batman himself in a cut sequence from the film that was still released online by director Matt Reeves. Featuring extreme close-ups of his scarred face and mouth, it’s since been revealed how Keoghan’s Joker got these particular scars.

Having already been caught by Batman once in Matt Reeves’ still developing version of Gotham City, Barry Keoghan’s Joker is still in his early stages just like the Dark Knight himself. To that end, this new version of the Clown Prince of Crime imprisoned in Arkham is already unlike most on-screen versions of Joker who’ve been depicted in the past. That said, the origins of his scars do give him a point of intriguing commonality with Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker.

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The Batman’s Joker Suffers From A Lifelong Illness That Effects His Looks

He Can Never Stop Smiling

As revealed by director Matt Reeves, Barry Keoghan’s Joker suffers from a congenital condition that always keeps him smiling. Although the close-ups in The Batman and the deleted sequence prevent this new Joker from being viewed in full ahead of The Batman Part II, he’s clearly covered in deep scars and skin grafts he’s apparently had since birth. According to Reeves, this decision was incredibly intentional:

“And I was like, ‘Well, maybe there’s something here where it’s not something where he fell in a vat of chemicals or it’s not the Nolan thing where he has these scars and we don’t know where they came from. What if this is something that he’s been touched by from birth and that he has a congenital disease that refuses to let him stop smiling? And he’s had this very dark reaction to it, and he’s had to spend a life of people looking at him in a certain way and he knows how to get into your head.’”

Having been shaped by this disease his entire life, the scars covering the face of Barry Keoghan’s Joker are certainly unique compared to past versions of the classic DC villain. To that end, there’s only one other on-screen Joker who suffers from something similar.

The Batman’s Joker Continues An Element From Joker (2019)

Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker Can’t Control His Laughter

Compared to Keoghan’s Joker in The Batman, Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck doesn’t have scarring in 2019’s Joker from director Todd Phillips. However, he does suffer from a medical condition in which he can’t control his laughter, one that leads to isolation and various social issues which which leads to his mental break and classic villain turn. As such, both of these Jokers are notably set apart seeing as how no other movie versions have used this particular kind of backstory for the iconic DC villain.