Batman doesn’t walk into Arkham to interrogate anybody in this scene. He walks in to ask for help, and the man he’s asking is the Joker.

This is the Arkham scene that was cut from The Batman, and it’s all conversation. Two men, one file, and a sheet of glass. Here’s how it plays.

A Present for the Anniversary

The Joker opens on the file Batman has carried in. He treats it like a gift, and he decides it must be their anniversary.

Batman keeps it to business. “There’s a serial killer. I want your perspective.”

The Joker stays on his own joke. “First anniversary is paper.”

Batman tells him, “I thought you’d be curious.” And he is. He wants to know if there are pictures.

The Profile

Once the file’s open, the Joker goes to work on the Riddler, and he’s quick about it.

“He likes little puzzles, doesn’t he?” He says it’s like the man has been planning this his whole life.

Batman says, “I know who he is.” The Joker’s answer is the whole profile in two short sentences. “He’s a nobody. Wants to be somebody.”

He looks at who’s been hit. The mayor. The commissioner. “Yeah, he’s got ambition.”

Batman asks if he thinks the motive is political.

“Oh no. This is very, very personal.” The way the Joker reads it, the killer feels these people have all wronged him, and it probably goes way back. Unhealed wounds.

Why Is He Writing to Me

Then Batman asks the question he actually came in with. “Why is he writing to me?”

The Joker gives him three answers and lets him pick. “Maybe he’s a fan of yours. Or maybe he’s got a grudge against you too. Maybe you’re the main course.”

The Scene Turns Around

From here the Joker’s done with the file. He’s looking at the man holding it.

“Something is different this time. This is very upsetting to you.”

Batman tries to steer it back. “Let’s get back to him.”

“Why? You are so much more fun.”

“I’m not here to talk about me.”

“What are you here to talk about?”

“I want to know how he thinks.”

And the Joker hands that one straight back to him. “You know exactly how he thinks. Have you read this file? You two have so much in common.” Masked avengers, the pair of them. Then he pushes on it. “Are you afraid he makes you look soft?”

Batman says, “You’re wasting my time.”

The Last Thing He Says

The Joker doesn’t let him leave with that. He tells Batman what he thinks is really going on.

“I think you don’t really care about his motives, whether he loves or hates you. I think somewhere deep down you’re just terrified, because you’re not sure he’s wrong.”

Then the line the scene ends on. “You think they deserved it.”

Batman doesn’t answer him.

That’s the scene, start to finish. If you’ve got a read on why it was cut, or on whether the Joker’s right about him, the conversation lives in the comments on the video above.