Barry Keoghan Joins the Cast of The Batman

August 24, 2020

In a press release sent during DC FanDome, Warner Bros. revealed that The Eternals star Barry Keoghan has joined the rather large cast of Matt Reeves’ The Batman as a character named Officer Stanley Merkel. Fans of Batman comic books will recall that Merkel was introduced by Frank Miller as Commissioner James Gordon’s first partner; a character who first appeared in 1987’s Batman #405 and subsequently killed by Sofia Falcone in Batman: Dark Victory.

Keoghan is probably most known for his work in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

Starring alongside Robert Pattinson’s Batman/Bruce Wayne is Zoë Kravitz (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Mad Max: Fury Road) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (Love & Mercy, 12 Years a Slave) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (the Hunger Games films) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the Transformers films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (The Magnificent Seven, Black Mass) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Jayme Lawson (Farewell Amor) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the Planet of the Apes films, Black Panther) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Dumbo) as Oswald Cobblepot. Twins Max and Charlie Carver have also joined the movie in “sizable roles.”

During DC FanDome, Reeves confirmed the movie will focus on Bruce Wayne’s second year as Batman, and, per Walter Hamada, that the film is set in a different universe separate from the Justice League DCEU characters. Reeves also shared that the movie is a detective story that follows a series of murders that open up the history of corruption in Gotham and how Bruce’s family is linked.

Reeves and Dylan Clark (the Planet of the Apes films) are producing the film, with Simon Emanuel, Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada, and Chantal Nong Vo serving as executive producers.

The Batman opens in theaters on October 1, 2021.