With every new film incarnation of Batman, many are always curious as to what villains the Dark Knight will face off against this time, specifically his most famous adversary. Now, with Matt Reeves’ The Batman on the horizon, it has been rumored that The Joker will make an appearance.

According to Reeves, the hope is for Joker to appear in either a second or third film in what might potentially be a new Batman trilogy. There’s also been talk about the The Batman making some sort of reference to the Joker, though whether it’s only in name or a cameo has yet to have been confirmed. However, what has been confirmed is that Joker will be played by a new actor, meaning that Joaquin Phoenix or even Jared Leto will unlikely reprise their roles from Suicide Squad and Joker respectively.

It’s hard to say if Joker will end up making some sort of appearance in The Batman, but considering the film’s already huge rogue gallery, it might be tough. Villains like The Riddler (Paul Dano), The Penguin (Colin Farrell) and Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) all set to appear in The Batman, so adding Joker will stuff an already overcrowded movie. Yet given how the last true Joker-Batman face-off was in 2008’s The Dark Knight, a new confrontation between these eternal rivals will be exciting regardless.

The Batman is set for release on October 1st 2021.