Joker movie: Is Batman in the Joker movie? Who plays Bruce Wayne?

Batman vs Joker has been a horrific battle lasting for decades in comic books. With various incarnations in film, as well, clearly DC Comics fans can’t get enough of watch the pair fight. In the origin movie, Joker, fans are desperate to know if this battle will continue.

***Warning: Mild spoilers for Joker***

Is Batman in the Joker movie?

This is an interesting question, as the answer is both yes, and no.

Joker is an origin story surrounding Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian whose mental health struggles cause him to turn into a vicious criminal.

Fleck does not feature in any of the comics, although a narrative surrounding a stand-up comedy does feature in The Killing Joke, which could have been a touchpoint for the film.

In The Killing Joke, Joker runs from Batman afraid, which causes him to fall into chemicals.

He is hideously disfigured in the accident and the idea of this causes him to be driven insane, marking Joker’s birth.

So will Joker the movie have a similar arch for the pair’s meeting?

The answer is no, as Batman in the form of Batman does not appear in the film.

However, a young Bruce Wayne does appear, along with his parents,Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Speaking to GamesRadar, director Todd Phillips revealed why he chose to put the family in the film, and why the studio did not force him to do so.

He said: “When I originally thought about the film, I didn’t have all those things figured out.

“Once you start writing, you start giving things more meaning and you work things out.

“One of those things was thinking, ‘You know what would be fun? Having the Waynes.’

“But it wasn’t a directive from DC. I would argue that DC and Warner Bros wanted less, to make it more separate from that universe.

“I can see why they would. But they never said anything in either direction.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Make sure you include the Waynes’ or ‘Include that scene at the end.’”

In Joker, Dante Pereira-Olson plays Bruce Wayne, and Brett Cullen plays Thomas Wayne, the billionaire philanthropist who is Bruce’s father.

It has been reported Alec Baldwin was originally going to play Thomas Wayne, but scheduling made this impossible.

Fans will know that part of Batman’s origin story is the death of his parents, so it may be that Joker’s origin film has a part of play in Batman’s origins, tying into upcoming Robert Pattinson movie The Batman.

Of course, “that scene at the end” which Phillips mentions could mean a great many things.

But fans will have to wait and watch the film to find out how the Waynes come across Joker – or if the villain meets the young hero at all.

Will Joaquin Phoenix feature in The Batman?

Phoenix has said this movie is a standalone film, meaning it seems unlikely he will reprise his role in the upcoming Batman movie.

However, there is a villain the works for the film, as it has been reported Jonah Hill is in talks to play either Riddler or Penguin in the upcoming Batman movie, starring Pattinson in the black cape.

Jeffrey Wright has also been reported as being in talks to play Commissioner Gordon, making him the first black incarnation of the Batman good cop.

It may be Phoenix makes a cameo role in later DCEU films, though he has spoken out about not wanting to sign on for multiple films when he was approached to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Let’s just hope this Joker is not a one-off.

Joker is in cinemas now