Watch Batman actor Barry Keoghan become the Joker in Killing of a Sacred Deer

The Batman is a movie full of villains, from crime bosses like Carmine Falcone and the Penguin to classics like Catwoman and the Riddler. While that pretty much covers the main plot, superhero fans won’t be surprised to learn that towards the end of the film, writer-director Matt Reeves teases another villain in the game for future Batman sequels.

This villain is played by outstanding Irish actor Barry Keoghan in the batman, seen recently eternal. While the character is still shrouded in mystery, Keoghan has already given us a performance that proves he’s up to the task: Killing a Sacred Deer.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for The Batman.]

After Riddler was taken to Arkham Asylum at the end The Batman, he finds out he’s next door to a talkative inmate in the next cell. Though he doesn’t introduce himself, it’s unmistakably Keoghan as the wild card. But he should appear in the future as Batman’s most iconic villain The Batman sequel, it wouldn’t be the first time Keoghan has appeared in a movie as an annoying psychopath.

For those who missed it Killing a Sacred Deer — which almost everyone was after the box office — Yorgos Lanthimos’ superb film stars Keoghan’s Batman co-star Colin Farrell as the well-meaning doctor and family man, Steven Murphy. One day Steven meets a young man named Martin Lang, played by Barry Keoghan. After this encounter, the film becomes even stranger – Martin appears randomly throughout Steven’s life and insists that if Steven doesn’t kill his wife, son or daughter, Martin will kill them all.

Without giving away any more details from the film’s story, let’s just say that Keoghan is haunting in it. He’s a cold, callous psychopath who has no qualms about killing for what he believes to be justice. That’s not to say Keoghan is playing a version of the Joker in this film – Martin certainly has none of the villain’s merry mayhem – but it does prove that he’s more than capable of capturing an absolutely terrifying state of mind. And that’s probably what a version of the Joker in Reeves’ grounded universe is asking for.

Image: A24

Of course, previous films aren’t necessarily an accurate track record for Joker performances. While Jack Nicholson’s stellar role as the Clown Prince of Crime certainly had precedent, Heath Ledger’s resume was famous for playing Joker-like roles before earning him an Oscar.

But with the track record of casting in The Batmanand his previous work on the film, Keoghan seems like a good choice to take on the role whenever Warner Bros. officially announces a sequel is good.

Killing a Sacred Deer is currently streaming Netflix and free with library card canopy.