The Batman: Barry Keoghan's casting seemingly confirmed by Warner Bros.

Barry Keoghan in Eternals — (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Barry Keoghan's casting in The Batman has seemingly been confirmed by Warner Bros. after the studio updated its 2022 movie preview to include the actor's name.

Keoghan is said to be playing a character named Stanley Merkel in the movie, but new footage seen in The Batman's international trailer suggests he could be playing the Joker.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has been testing two different cuts of the movie – one with "a certain character" and one without, and the studio has now reportedly made a decision about which version to go with. Which character the THR report refers to is, for now, still a mystery, but one theory is that it's Keoghan's Joker. And now that his name has been added to the cast list, it seems like that theory may have a little more weight to it.

Keoghan joins Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, along with Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman and Paul Dano as the Riddler, as well as Colin Farrell as Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon.

This isn't Keoghan's first superhero movie – he was last seen in the MCU, where he played Druig in Eternals opposite Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, and Angelina Jolie. He also recently starred in medieval fantasy movie The Green Knight and crime drama Calm With Horses.

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.