The Joker

Before we get started with the fun, I wanted to share one idea that didn’t fit into the rest of the article. Warner Bros is planning a Flashpoint film and now word on this Joker origin film, what if they did a Flashpoint Joker origin movie? That would be something out of this world!

By now you have all heard the news that Warner Bros/DC Comics is in the early stages of developing a Joker origin film with the director of The Hangover and sharing writing duties with the writer behind 8 Mile. Buried beneath that report is also news that DC is looking to start up a secondary line of comic book movies with its own label. Both are these are intriguing developments if they come to fruition and going to take a little time to showcase the good, the bad and the ugly of both.

Let’s tackle the big fish first, the Joker’s origin movie. I will say the idea does very little for me, but my personal interest and what is financially and commercially feasible don’t always align.

With that said, I do think the notion of a Joker-centric movie is a good idea for Warner Brothers. One, he is a highly notable character. More popular than some of the heroes getting their own movie. Since he is so intrinsically connected to Batman, he has been part of every cinematic endeavor with the brand since the 1960s. Second, and this is much smaller potatoes, but the animated release of The Killing Joke made almost 4 million dollars on a limited release over a long weekend. If there’s demand for something like that imagine what a full-blown Joker movie could do.

More importantly though, the Joker is a fascinating character to mine material from. The number one response I’ve seen online is the Joker doesn’t need an origin, and I do agree with that. That doesn’t mean the Joker can’t have an origin, true or false. I mean it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve put backstory to him, not even the first time on the big-screen as the 1989 Batman film showed the birth of the Joker. An origin that is pretty much carried over to the beloved Batman: The Animated Series though slightly expanded on in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Even Gotham has their take on The Joker’s presence in Batman lore with Jerome.

And it’s not just movies and television, comics have tried to give him backstories when they could. As noted above The Killing Joke is perhaps the most famous example of that. He has also been the original Red Hood (part of the reason Jason Todd takes that identity after being resurrected),some that have depicted him as a sadistic criminal before the accident, or even more superficial ones like being the heir of an Egyptian pharaoh.

What has made his history so malleable is the fact that the Joker himself has always proven to be an unreliable narrator. As he famously notes in The Killing Joke, “Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!” An unreliable narrator is something that you can build a good movie around if done well.

More importantly, it allows Warner/DC to really break from the shackles of what cape movies tend to be. People will make the case that The Winter Soldier is a political thriller or that Guardians of the Galaxy is a space opera, but the trappings are still very much in-line with the comic book movies we’ve been getting since the dawn of the sub-genre. It could be a crime drama. It could be a personal drama. It could be a heist movie. It could be an anti-hero movie. It could be a descent into madness. The world is Mr. J’s oyster. And then they could take it all away because we can’t believe the viewpoint that we’re seeing.