The Batman Epic Crime Saga: Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan “Had a Giggle” About Their Villainous Roles (Exclusive)

The Caped Crusader’s rogues gallery expands. 2022’s The Batman pitted Robert Pattinson’s titular vigilante against Paul Dano’s The Riddler while simultaneously bringing ascending adversaries Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) and The Penguin (Colin Farrell) into the fold. Just before the credits rolled, director Matt Reeves snuck Batman’s most famed foe into the picture, as Barry Keoghan subtly showed face as The Joker, offering his hand in friendship to Riddler. It remains to be seen as to how active The Batman Epic Crime Saga’s Joker has been up until his imprisonment in Arkham Asylum, but the man behind the makeup is already familiar with his new franchise’s larger ensemble.

Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan’s Batman Saga Parallels

While fans await a Penguin and Joker scene on screen, the Irishmen behind the roles have already chatted about their shared franchise.

Speaking to ComicBook at The Penguin world premiere in New York City, star Colin Farrell noted that he and Barry Keoghan “had a giggle” about where they fall in The Batman Epic Crime Saga.

“The two of us had a giggle about it,” Farrell said. “He’s The Joker and I’m The Penguin, and we’re both from the north side of Dublin. It’s bizarre and lovely and it’s the kind of thing that makes you a bit giddy. You just have a laugh about it, you realize your good fortune.”

While 17 years apart, Farrell and Keoghan’s acting careers have run somewhat parallel to one another in recent memory. The two Dublin natives first shared the screen together in The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) and then again in The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), the latter of which they both received Academy Award nominations for.

Farrell and Keoghan suiting up as Batman adversaries continue a pattern of Irishmen standing opposite Bruce Wayne on the big screen. Within Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, Cork’s Cillian Murphy portrayed Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) in all the movies while Northern Ireland’s Liam Neeson showed face as Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises.

There’s no word on when Keoghan’s Joker will make his presence properly felt within The Batman Epic Crime Saga. Director Matt Reeves shared a deleted scene of the character being interrogated by Batman on social media shortly after The Batman hit theaters, leaving a small hint that the Clown Prince of Crime secured a means to escape his Arkham imprisonment.

“I can’t say much. We’ll see where that goes. It was an incredible experience,” Keoghan said in a recent interview when asked about his Joker’s future. “Yeah, I can’t say.”

The Penguin premieres on Max on Thursday, September 19th.