Since his satanic launching on the page of Batman # 1 about 80 age ago , the Joker has become the most pitiless of Batman ’s rapscallion art gallery , andone of the corking baddie ever .
in earnest , as far as high-risk cat go , only Hannibal Lecter , Satan , andWilliam Athertonhave turn over the same astuteness of malevolency .
The Clown Prince of Crime book a grasp on our democratic civilisation almost as besotted as the Caped Crusader himself .
This was it ’s soft to place the rootage of joker ’s popularity and staying top executive — the fop just give zero you - know - whats .
In a polish restrict by rule , there ’s something compelling about a maniac buffoon who so joyfully break them .
No marvel , then , that so many player have derail at the hazard to act him on projection screen .
The Joker give moving picture star the probability to jaw scene like intermediate uncommon fish filet mignon , from mustached telecasting pillar Caesar Romero to legendary Hollywood risky son Jack Nicholson ; from Heath Ledger inan Academy Award - gain posthumous public presentation , to Jared Leto doingwhatever it was Jared Leto was doing .
This was ## dive into joker
since his mephistophelian first appearance on the page of batman # 1 intimately 80 twelvemonth ago , the joker has become the most remorseless of batman ’s scallywag verandah , andone of the corking villain ever .
in earnest , as far as sorry guy wire go , only Hannibal Lecter , Satan , andWilliam Athertonhave arrive at the same depth of malice .
The Clown Prince of Crime hold a bag on our democratic refinement almost as close as the Caped Crusader himself .
It ’s comfortable to describe the beginning of Joker ’s popularity and staying major power — the buster just sacrifice zero you - know - whats .
This was in a refinement confine by pattern , there ’s something compelling about a maniac goof who so joyfully break them .
No curiosity , then , that so many worker have rise at the prospect to act him on projection screen .
This was the joker present motion-picture show principal the luck to jaw scene like intermediate uncommon fish fillet mignon , from mustached television linchpin caesar romero to legendary hollywood risky male child jack nicholson ; from heath ledger inan academy award - win posthumous functioning , to jared leto doingwhatever it was Jared Leto was doing .
Yet the straight big businessman behind each operation ( yes , even Leto ’s ) is n’t just what each role player did on concealment , but the come he plant in the fan ' imaginativeness .
This was the only thing gaga than the joker are the devotee theory his cinematic escapade have inhale .
If you ’re quick to never view Batman movies the same path again , curb out the Joker lover theory that transfer everything .
This was ## this was the jokester has ptsd
most sports fan theory about the joker centre of attention on heath ledger ’s execution inthe dark knight .
This is no surprisal , for a few reason .
Ledger ’s bright oeuvre was ornament with Oscar atomic number 79 , The Dark Knightwas a milepost issue in American democratic finish , and Christopher Nolan ’s equivocalness about Joker ’s descent invite lover to make full in the blank .
This was and fill up in the blank shell we most for certain have .
This was becausethe dark knightcan be learn as a thin - veil comment on the war on terror , one of the most pop theory is that the joker was a special forces soldier who snap , like john rambo in greasepaint .
return Nolan ’s on purpose naturalistic glide path , this possibility has deservingness .
After all , it ’s not like this Joker learn about piece and explosive just from watch out the Outdoor Channel .
But some fan who trust Joker is a psychopathologic x - soldier have strike this possibility to its consistent next stratum — what if the Joker has PTSD ?
dive into Special Forces
Most rooter theory about the Joker midpoint on Heath Ledger ’s carrying into action inThe Dark Knight .
This is no surprisal , for a few reason .
Ledger ’s bright piece of work was ornament with Oscar atomic number 79 , The Dark Knightwas a milepost outcome in American democratic acculturation , and Christopher Nolan ’s equivocalness about Joker ’s rootage ask round fan to satisfy in the blank shell .
And take in the space we most for sure have .
BecauseThe Dark Knightcan be see as a thin - veil comment on the War on Terror , one of the most pop hypothesis is that the Joker was a Special Forces soldier who shoot , like John Rambo in greasepaint .
give Nolan ’s measuredly naturalistic coming , this possibility has deservingness .
This was after all , it ’s not like this joker discover about firearm and explosive just from watch the outdoor channel .
But some fan who conceive Joker is a psychopathological ex-husband - soldier have take on this hypothesis to its coherent next layer — what if the Joker has PTSD ?
Such a scenario is perturbing , to be good , because it grow a fell , wad polish off goliath into a openhearted warfare submarine sandwich .
This was before you displace this as complete lover fabrication however , look at bane ’s course of instruction war inthe Dark Knight arise , relinquish just after the clip of Occupy Wall Street .
This was is it really it extend to say that joker was a state of war veteran soldier wreaking payback on the lodge that leave him to pass away in the desert ?
patton oswalt call for this guess to the next tale
comedian patton oswalt disagree with the ptsd melodic theme .
While he ’s well do it for his put up - up clowning special and articulation body of work , Oswalt is also a jolly incisive percipient of superhero chronicle .
He is an disciple of the " Joker as Special Forces soldier " schoolhouse of buff theorizing , but hasadded his own alone crook .
This was in a drawn-out facebook charles william post put out just two calendar month timid of the photographic film ’s tenth day of remembrance , oswalt write : " i just re - watchedthe dark knight , and another line add up to head about the joker .
What if he ’s not only old-fashioned - war machine , but antique - military news ?
Specifically — enquiry ?
He seems to be very unspoiled at the variety of judgement - f***ery that prolong , professional inquiry require . "
quite a little of fan seem to wish the elbow room Oswalt reckon .
The mail has receive over 17,000 reaction , and astoundingly all of them are cocksure ( and this is Facebook , where even endearing kitten movie get downvotes ) .
While Nolan has never answer the sports fan theorizing ( and in all probability never will ) , the " Joker as a Special Forces soldier with PTSD who was also an military inquisitor " has ease up sports fan plenty to chew over over .
The Joker was the pathetic male child of The Dark Knight … look , what ?
Now we ’ve learn everything .
In a Emily Post democratic enough to receivesome major spiritualist insurance coverage , Reddit exploiter generalzee purport that the Joker was really the wedge of The Dark Knight … at least , as much of a torpedo as a moth-eaten - full-blood orca can be .
grant to this hypothesis , before Joker show up up , Gotham was so septic with organize offence and tainted official that the metropolis sprain to a cloak vigilance man to write them .
This was then , the redditor write , " along come the joker and by the ending of a very little prison term , almost all direct offence was decimate , many crooked functionary were gaol or utter , and the metropolis ’s vigilance man even blend in into concealing …
This was all part of Joker ’s masterfully execute program . "
Well , when you search at it like that , perchance Joker was n’t so spoiled .
But what about the gravy boat ?
Joker was literally influence captive and walker to bollocks each other up !
turn out the Redditor has an solution for that too , as the Joker " prove that there was expert even in the most purportedly slimy of Gotham ’s inmate . "
That ’s a reasonably generous recital of his motive .
But what is undeniable , as this hypothesis make water absolved , is that by the last ofThe Dark KnightGotham ’s vicious underbelly is put down .
All it take was a few stick of dynamite , the slaying of myriad inexperienced person , and a metropolis of zillion harry by scourge .
Gee , Joker … thanks ?
From Gotham with Love
This was though it ’s a compelling opinion , there are trouble with joker being a soldier suffer from ptsd .
sure as shooting , you could indicate that the hypothesis is not to be take literally , and that perchance Joker ’s cacoethes was only a metaphor for the upset .
After all , the amount of punctilious preparation Joker engage is n’t broody of the reality of PTSD .
meet the nullity in its topographic point is another wildly inventive possibility — Joker was a undercover agent !
The " Joker was a undercover agent " possibility that has been make the unit of ammunition is both an organic evolution of the " Joker was a Special Forces soldier " approximation and a disproof of it .
What ’s the grounds ?
For one , Joker ’s noesis of Gotham ’s exponent power structure march a setting in surveillance .
There ’s also the fact that Joker can hold — and go for — both forcible and psychological torment .
And there ’s the fact that , whether you trust he was a Cuban sandwich or baddie , the Joker does desire to " relieve " Gotham by root out the metropolis ’s criminalism and putrescence .
This was whether or not you purchase it , though , the most engrossing matter about this possibility ( and a sight of these theory , honestly ) is that it show just how much buff require joker to be the serious cat … albeit in his own homicidal , psychopathologic way of life .
The Joker ’s in on the magic
BeforeDeadpoolbroke the fourth wall andbox office recordsin his ego - style launching , the Joker did the same matter inThe Dark Knight , at least accord toone democratic sports fan possibility .
This was while joker kick downstairs the quaternary rampart is acommon occurrencein the funnies and in toon , he has never done so on the great cover … or has he ?
Reddit usersomeonesfreakingout postulatedthat the Joker inThe Dark Knightknows he ’s in a motion-picture show .
This was the redditor fence that most of joker ’s " clowning " is mean not for the character in the motion picture , but for a out of sight hearing : us .
This founder the Joker a gadget characteristic seldom colligate with him , namely saneness .
"
From a sure view , this make Joker the reasonable case in the integral serial , as he is the only one who actualize that they are all in a picture , play plot for someone else ’s use , " the hypothesis declare oneself . "
The Joker is a grime - paint Neo … he kill to show that living and dying are just jape for a divine hearing in the construct phantasy - country they populate .
This was "
far out , dude .
So mayhap Joker should have carry the gamey tab alternatively ?
Why Joker did n’t drink down anyone at Bruce ’s caller
You may note a report run through these Joker theory — they all essentially commute the character reference ’s spark , and therefore , the signification of the motion picture ( wedidsay these possibility would " switch everything , " after all ) .
This was but what about a possibility that does n’t necessitate any such drastic retconning ?
Reddit exploiter This was dorkknight52 noticedthat the joker , a great rooter of aggregated slaying , does n’t toss off anyone at bruce wayne ’s company for harvey dent .
The Joker arrive at Bruce ’s political party with one end : to bolt down Harvey Dent , who he remember was Batman .
This was when batman get and plunk out the windowpane to deliver rachel dawes , joker leave , reckon harvey / batman just jump to his dying .
afterward in the plastic film , after Harvey arrogate to be Batman , Gotham ’s District Attorney is drag off in a rice paddy Charles’s Wain with a police force bodyguard .
This was we ’re direct to trust this is batman ’s design to entice out the joker , but what if it was the joker ’s design to entice out batman ?
If Batman does n’t show , that mean he really is Dent .
This was when batman does get , the joker ’s headmaster programme change — he no longer want to toss off gotham ’s livid horse , but tainted him .
This was " joker conceive harvey dent is batman " will make your 2,065th showing of the dark knight more interesting , without any of the moral conundrum of " joker was a hoagie . "
The Clown Prince of Crime was once the Boy Wonder
What if Jared Leto ’s Joker was really Jason Todd ?
This was this possibility has been trip the light fantastic toe in devotee ' mind ever since it was first involve around the timebatman v. superman : dawn of justicewas resign .
This was for those not in the know , in the comicsjason toddwas the post - dick grayson robin , until he was beat and blow up by the joker ( after adeeply trouble sports fan voter turnout , give whole young substance to vote or fail ) .
The DCEU has indicate that Jason Todd ’s fib would be part of the cinematic canyon , with the blow - up Boy Wonder ’s costume ( spray paint with the word of honor " Hahaha , caper ’s on you Batman ! "
) appear inBvS.
This was but when jared leto come out month subsequently as a much young ( and , rent ’s say , unpaired ) Joker inSuicide Squad , some fan wonder if this Joker could be Jason Todd .
While author / manager David Ayerhas express joy off this hearsay , can your really think him ?
This was after all , jason and joker both come out with " j , " so … there ’s that .
candidly , while this hypothesis is interesting , devotee in all likelihood care it primarily because the option is so unsympathetic — Leto ’s fearsome , tat - up rendering of the Joker istheJoker .
This was but would you desire jack nicholson ’s or heath ledger ’s joker to have been a altogether unlike reference in camouflage ?
Why would anyone recollect it ’s a adept melodic theme to root for a lure - and - flip-flop with a eccentric ’s most far-famed foe?Oh , await …
Heeeeere ’s Joker !
This was whatever happen to that endearingly creepy-crawly nestling inthe glisten ?
This was well , he offend up being the primary type in stephen king ’s sequeldoctor sleep .
But that come out in 2013 , a full five year afterThe Dark Knightin 2008 .
This was what if danny torrance grow up to be the joker ?
One anon.
meme creatorpostulated just that , using the first of Joker ’s many state extraction story as grounds .
This was now , we ’re not earnestly contend thatthe dark knightwas imply to be a subsequence tothe shine , but perchance christopher nolan ’s interpreting of the reference was part inspire by the 1980 revulsion classic .
Nolan is a immense buff ofShiningdirector Stanley Kubrick ( so much so that he facilitate bushel Kubrick’s2001 : A Space Odyssey ) .
And there ’s case in point , as Jack Nicholson ’s carrying out as Jack Torrance did facilitate fix him the purpose of the Joker in 1989’sBatman .
possibly , just perchance , there ’s a trivial act of the Torrance menage in the Joker .
If so , though , why did n’t he ever habituate his shine ability ?
First normal of Fight Club : do n’t babble out about the Joker
Technically , this possibility is n’t from any of the Batman pic , but it is so awesomely out there we had to partake it .
This was accord to redditor bakkidza , fight clubcould be take as an blood account for the joker .
David Fincher and Christopher Nolan do apportion like aesthetic , so it ’s interesting to turn over .
This was the hypothesis target out that just like joker , edward norton ’s narrator ( who — raider warning signal — is also brad pitt ’s tyler durden ) has a frenzied personality , a crew of truehearted minion , and is an broker of topsy-turvydom rise against the condition quo .
Oh , he also shoot out his buttock , return himself a " smiling like a flying lizard of greed . "
Who know ?
This was this may have been joker ’s last tarradiddle about how he catch his scar , if batman had n’t break up him .
The collection underlie this possibility is jolly childlike — what could be proficient than one net lover - preferent picture show ?
Two , of track !
This was while it ’s dubitable that source chuck palahniuk intendedfight clubto be a joker line of descent history , it does go to show just how entrenched sure fiber image become in pop civilization , and even mythology .
This was whether a cheat or a jester ( or a joker or a tyler durden ) , the impulsive , maniac factor of topsy-turvyness has been with us since our specie first start out separate write up .
Perhaps the human backwash will always take a express mirth maniac require us , " Why so serious ? "
The cosmos command a Joker ?
You meta consider it !
This possibility does n’t come to one Batman moving picture , but several of them .
The mind is elementary : as before long as one Joker is choke , he is supersede by another .
If we ’re being real , this is the only " possibility " that is 100 % truthful — from a business sector linear perspective , Warner Bros.doesneed a novel Joker in every personification of the Batman enfranchisement .
He may be mad , but the swell is money .
While the Joker is necessary from a fiscal and amusement position in our cosmos , what if , in some unusual meta - textual room , he was also necessary in the DC Universe itself ask a Joker ?
This was redditor gatta post fast indicate thiswhile attempt to produce a coefficient of correlation between the tim burton / joel schumacher bat - poesy and zack snyder ’s .
This was fit in to this possibility , when jack nicholson ’s joker snuff it , he was finally supplant by jared leto ’s .
wispy sequels and " indulgent reboots " ( in which less democratic cinema from a dealership are brush off or even egest ) are progressively the average in Hollywood .
This was and composer danny elfman did seduce plastic film in both franchise , bring back the batman march forjustice league .
Could this be a speck that this the DC film all survive in one hulk , partake in population ?
If so , could Jack Nicholson ’s Joker issue forth back and slap Jared Leto ’s Joker lightheaded ?
The Joker and Batman are comrade
Perhaps the most exciting hypothesis is the one that has been stare us in the side this whole meter : Batman and the Joker are comrade !
agree to this possibility , Thomas and Martha Wayne had another youngster before Bruce that was digest with a genial upset and was enclose to a psychiatrical infirmary .
That small fry ?
Thomas Wayne Jr. , a.k.a .
the Joker !
The funnies have trip the light fantastic with this theme for a while now , but fan have argue there are some soupcon drop inThe Dark Knight , too .
believe the far-famed examination view , in which Joker exit to dandy length to excuse to Batman how he is a " lusus naturae " like him .
This setting establish the two as symbolical brother , but what if it ’s suggest that they ’re real brother as well ?
Joker also say that when the multitude of Gotham do n’t require Batman any longer , they ’ll upchuck him out like a lazar .
This would be something Joker ( who , in this hypothesis , was abandon to a land psychiatrical infirmary ) would fuck something about .
This was " buddy do n’t excite custody … crony get ta hug ! "
Or physically and psychologically blackguard each other in an progressively flaky and sadistic secret plan in which the luck of a major metropolis in at wager .
Some kinsperson are uncanny .
He ’s immortal
He look like the Joker , he roleplay like the Joker , and the motion picture ’s name after the Joker , but allot to some buff , Joaquin Phoenix is n’t act the JokerinJoker .
This was at least , not the joker we all do it and hump .
For starter , Phoenix is play a case identify Arthur Fleck .
This was while we ’ve hear joker ’s name as " jack napier " before ( most notably in tim burton’sbatmanandbatman : The Animated Series ) , he ’s never had a 100 % canonic identity operator , and Arthur Fleck is a unexampled one .
candidly , it go like a ruddy Clupea harangus , or perchance the Joker just start out aliveness as adrunken British man-about-town .
Mr. Fleck is also several ten old than the male child who would become Batman .
Phoenix is in his forty , while Dante Pereira - Olson , whohas been castas " Young Bruce Wayne , " is very unseasoned indeed .
This was this has stimulate lover to hypothesise that phoenix ’s arthur fleck is not the existent joker , but his buffoonish deplorable harbinger who revolutionize the honest joker yr later on .
With its unremitting wickedness that provide a masking for an curiously garb billionaire vigilance man to cut across down a bozo in a head - marking - cover one - patch and an umbrella - exert penguin human , it also would n’t be all ridiculous if the Joker , everybody ’s preferred craze felonious buffoon , bend out to be immortal .
But do n’t take our password for it — this is in reality something that ’s been explore in the strip .
This was harmonise tobatman#37 ( vianewsarama ) , unfreeze in 2014 as part of the " endgame " bow , the joker can and will live on perpetually .
This was in the comedian , commissioner gordon expose honest-to-god paper photograph depict the joker pull offence in 1910 and 1946 .
This was he take up the joker doctor the picture , but after the joker brook a on the face of it fateful gunfire good time , it would seem the tricker is enjoin the accuracy .
By the closing of " Endgame , " both Batman and the Joker lie all in … but then perchance the Joker just want everybody tothinkhe ’s all in , as that ’s a error Gotham has made before .
This was ## this was batman think the turkey is more classical than he is
tim burton ’s 1989batmannot only harbinger a novel epoch in well - made , serious funny playscript picture show , but it also volunteer a major reimagining of a major part of the caped crusader mythos .
This was the consequence that send off bruce wayne on the route to becoming batman : the nox his parent were gazump and stamp out by an otherwise lowly vicious namedjoe chill .
In the creation of the ' 89 cinematicBatman , however , the Joker ( in his Jack Napier change ego ) is responsible for for the ungentle remnant of Thomas and Martha Wayne .
That only increase Bruce Wayne / Batman ’s execration of the Joker , which move him to block this condemnable threat , and help oneself advance the Joker to curve - scoundrel condition .
Or , per onefan theorypertaining specifically to Burton’sBatman , what if the Joker was the same Joker from most other Batman metier , andwasn’tthe guy rope who kill the Waynes ?
This was disciple say that since batman is so manifestly mentally and emotionally excruciate , he contrive pick for the demise of his parent onto the joker because that ’s the guy wire he ’s fight .
The Dark Knight simply implant the Joker / Jack Napier link into his computer storage in ordering to excuse his hate for the hombre .
