The origin of the Batman is one of the most well-known origin stories. It has been seen multitudes of times across various platforms. With so many comics, movies, and TV shows, both live-action and animated with countless continuities, the genesis of The Dark Knight is the stuff of pop-culture legend. Most recently, his origin was told again in the ending of Todd Phillips’ Joker, in which there is some time spend on a young Bruce Wayne being set on his usual path toward his life of caped crime-fighting.

On the surface it seemed to be business as usual, however, some small changes to the classic story suggest there may be more than meets the eye when it comes to this scene, most notably in regards to how it influences Bruce’s career as a costumed crime fighter. Some have even gone as far as to say Bruce is on his way to becoming another, lesser-known DC hero.

Batman has many origins, but for the most part they all share one common root. The most widely-agreed upon reason for the creation of the Batman is the death of Martha and Thomas Wayne by the hand (or, rather, gun) of criminal Joe Chill. The event occurs shortly after the Wayne family leaves the theater, most often screening some variation of The Mask Of Zorro. This traumatic experience is the catalyst for Bruce becoming the Caped Crusader, vowing to rid Gotham of the worst, most dangerous criminals it had to offer. This event fuels him, gives him a purpose, and in doing so also allows him to face his greatest fear; bats. He chose the persona due to his phobia of the winged mammals, knowing if they can strike fear into his heart, surely he can use their likeness to do the same for Gotham’s most wanted.

This is where things change a bit in Joker, as the film as a whole tried to take aspects of the source material and flip them on their head. From Joker’s appearance to his entire origin, the film was only loosely based on the DC character and the universe he was set in. In this particular instance, the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne were an inadvertent result of the riots The Joker helped create. Criminals ran rampant through the streets, wreaking havoc across the city. In all of the chaos, Thomas and Martha were murdered outside of the theater. Given the clown-themed riots and masks worn by many rioters, things may go a very different direction for the newly orphaned Bruce Wayne.

What if Bruce’s new fear wasn’t of bats, but clowns? There are few things more traumatizing for a child to witness than the death of their parents, especially at the hands of someone egged on by the actions of a murderous clown who had just killed a popular TV personality on live television. By exposing Bruce to a clown-ridden Gotham and associating it with the death of his parents at a very young age, there may be some hinting that in this universe the Batman is nowhere to be seen, never motivated by traditional means. Rather, another hero who looks to rid the city of evil under a much different vigilante persona has the potential to arise from this situation. Could it be that in Joker, viewers saw the origin, not of The Dark Knight, but rather The Jester?

The Jester, aka Charles Lane, is a lesser-known hero created by Paul Gustavson in the early 1940’s. A cop turned vigilante, Lane takes on the mantle of The Jester after learning he was born into a familial line of former court jesters. The character is not a DC original and was initially published under Quality Comics, a company absorbed by DC Comics in the late 1950’s. All in all, the character is pretty obscure, but this would make it an even more interesting twist for Bruce Wayne to take up the Jester mantle after the death of his parents in the Joker continuity. Sure, this route would be a bold departure from the source material for both characters, but such a move is not as radical as one would think, especially considering the ways Joker already deviates from the comics.

Joker proved there’s more elbow room for writers and directors to bend the source material than many would admit. For Bruce to become a relatively unknown character due to the changes already made ever so slightly to his origin would not be out of the question, given the continuity in which this would occur, which bears very little resemblance to the DC universe of the comics. Obviously this is just a theory, and the idea of a sequel to Joker is still not set in stone, not to mention taking one of the most well-known and popular comic book heroes ever and outfitting him like a jester is quite a leap. Still, though, it would be a very intriguing subversion of audience expectations if this were the case and would certainly incite heated debate.

As far as wild movie theories go, it seems doubtful this is a direction Warner Bros. will take a Joker sequel. Considering the marketability of the Batman character as well as Matt Reeves 2021 film now in production, Warner Bros would understandably be hesitant to make such a bold move. To that same point, it is fun to speculate, and given that a Joker sequel is still up in the air, that gives audiences plenty of time to do so at their leisure. Whether or not we will get a definitive answer in this new DC continuity is unknown, all that is for certain is that Joker managed to take one of DC’s most iconic villains and reinvent him in a way never before seen. If such moves will be made for his arch-nemesis remains to be seen.

  • The Batman Release Date: 2022-03-04