James Gunn Says Joker Isn’t The Batman Saga’s Next TV Star

The Penguin comes to a close this weekend, and folks are wondering what’s next for Oz Cobb—as well as which baddie in Batman’s rogues’ gallery will get a show of their own next. Matt Reeves has hinted that could happen, and since this is an Epic Crime Saga, there’s plenty more viable villains to build a series around.

Recently, rumors started circulating online that a potential TV candidate would be everyone’s favorite murder clown, the Joker. In Reeves’ The Batman, Barry Keoghan portrayed the clown prince in a reduced role that teased a very different new look and potential team-up with Paul Dano’s Riddler sometime down the line. The Penguin‘s meant to set up The Batman Part II, and you could see how that same logic would apply for however long this sub-franchise continues. But according to DC Studios co-head James Gunn, no such Joker show is in the cards.

“No truth to this, sorry,” he said to a comment on Threads linking him to the original rumor. Then, in a separate post, he said: “Everyone is asking me about this. No, there is absolutely no truth to this. A Joker series is not being discussed, nor has even come up at this time. Sorry.” Since he took over DC Studios, Gunn’s used social media to debunk rumors about potential projects, such as a video game set within The Batman’s universe.

Whether or not Gunn’s being legit about Keoghan’s Joker not being up for spinoff potential, it’s unlikely Reeves doesn’t take him out of the asylum at some point: Batman stories can’t help but loop Joker into things, and it’d be a hell of a thing to watch Keoghan and Robert Pattinson out-weirdo each other for two hours.

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