While Todd Phillips’ and Warner Bros. have gone back and forth about whether or not they’re planning a sequel for 2019’s Joker, the world setup by the film would undoubtedly birth one of the most unique cinematic versions of Batman. The gritty comic book origin story was a massive success for Warner Bros., grossing over $1 billion at the box office and becoming the most profitable comic book film of all-time, alongside its positive critical reception. The film, director, and lead star Joaquin Phoenix were all nominees at the 2020 Oscars, making history for the superhero movie genre.
Phillips has frequently played coy about whether or not he plans on returning for a sequel to the film. Most recently, he suggested that he would be open to the idea of Joker 2, with the only condition being that he has an idea that he feels warrants a sequel. However, with the unexpected runaway success of the film, Warner Bros. is more than likely urging Phillips and the creative team to return for a second outing.
Fans will have to wait with bated breath for confirmation of a sequel to Joker, but regardless, the world inhabited by Joaquin Phoenix’s Clown Prince is one that’s radically different from any other cinematic version of Gotham. Todd Phillips himself has said that he’d love to see a Joker spin-off featuring that universe’s Batman, and with some of the major changes Joker makes to the Batman lore, it’s easy to see why that version of the Caped Crusader would be so enticing from a creative standpoint.
The Waynes Weren’t Beloved In Joker
Be it comic books, animated television, video games, or even other on-screen versions, one of the biggest constants in the Batman mythos is Gotham City’s reverence of the Wayne family. In comics (as well as Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy) Thomas Wayne is depicted as a gifted surgeon, physician, and philanthropist, donating millions of dollars to helping make Gotham City a better place. Martha Wayne is also a humanitarian and used her own family’s wealth (Martha’s maiden name is Kane, making her the heir to the Kane Chemical fortune) to fight for social causes as well as various charities. It’s easy to see why the Waynes deaths affected not only Bruce but Gotham as a whole, because in one fell swoop Gotham City’s biggest benefactors were snatched away from them.
However, in Joker, the Waynes (and particularly Thomas) were anything but benefactors. Phillips’ gritty 80’s thriller reimagines Thomas Wayne as a potential mayoral candidate, one who revels in his wealth in spite of the suffering of Gotham’s extreme lower class. He’s actually vehemently opposed by a group of lower class anarchists who break out into riots across the city after Arthur Fleck murders three Wayne Enterprises businessmen. There’s also a suggestion that Wayne may have had an illicit relationship with Arthur’s mother (more on that later), suggesting that he takes advantage of his employees.
While Bruce Wayne is often depicted as a prince of Gotham, filling in the footsteps of his parents by using his wealth to champion social causes, it would be interesting to see a version of the character who’s actually despised by the citizens of Gotham City. Instead of being viewed as another part of a legacy dedicated to political and economic reform, this version of Bruce Wayne would more than likely be seen as another inconsiderate 1% billionaire, which would be an interesting critique of his usage of the Wayne family fortune to fund his crusade as Batman.
The Wayne Murders Were Essentially A Political Assassination
Another common point of consistency across Batman media is the fact that the Waynes were killed at the hands of a random mugger. Bruce’s entire crusade originates from the idea that crime is a disease, striking randomly, and that occurrences such as the Wayne murders are merely symptoms of a much larger issue. This is why Bruce takes up such a radical methodology in order to combat crime; it’s hard to make real significant change when the issue is as broad and vague as mankind’s proclivity for random debauchery.
Joker takes this concept and flips it on its head entirely. Throughout the film, we watch public opinion on Thomas Wayne turn, with the riots inspired by Arthur’s crime spree painting Wayne as an irresponsible and callous elite. Wayne’s own response to the rioters doesn’t help his case, as he essentially calls them lazy and misguided. It’s no great surprise that Joker offers its own version of the Wayne murders at the end of the film, one which sees them gunned down with express intent and purpose as the result of their political beliefs. The gunman even tells Wayne that he “gets what he deserves,” a reference to a line that Arthur states right before fatally shooting TV talk show host Murray Franklin.
It would be incredibly interesting to see what kind of long-lasting psychological effects the Wayne murders have on this version of Bruce Wayne, especially since they were deliberate assassinations. Instead of his parents being killed as the result of senseless criminal behavior, Bruce now has to contend with the fact that his parents were gunned down because of their choices and political ideologies. Would this repel Bruce away from his father’s line of thinking, or would it do the exact opposite, turning Thomas Wayne and his disregard for Gotham’s poor into a sort of martyr’s cause?
Arthur Fleck Might Be His Brother
One of the biggest revelations in Joker comes when Arthur discovers a letter from his mother Penny to her former employer, Thomas Wayne. In the letter she suggests that Arthur may be Thomas’ child, and that he has a responsibility to care for his son. Thomas, of course, denies the allegation when Arthur confronts him about it, but the film never truly resolves the plot thread, leaving the audience to decide on their own whether or not the accusation is true.
Even if the truth never comes to light, the idea that his arch-nemesis may be his own half-brother would be enough to drive anyone insane, especially someone as psychologically fragile as Bruce Wayne. While comic book Bruce has had his own fair share of potential familial relations (Simon Hurt, a villain from Grant Morrison’s underrated Batman run, tried to convince Bruce that he was his father, while Lincoln March, the primary antagonist of Scott Snyder’s Court of Owls arc, tried to suggest that he was Bruce’s long-lost brother), the revelation that The Joker might be his sibling is another thing entirely. There’s also the implication of mental illness in the Wayne family, something that Batman: Earth One played around with, that could be an interesting theme for a Batman-centric sequel to Joker to explore.
Who Could Play This Batman?
While we’re already getting a reboot of the Batman franchise starring Robert Pattinson, if Joker were to get a sequel revolving around the Dark Knight, it would obviously need someone who can carry the tremendous weight of the role. There’s also several different factors that would go into casting this version of the character, most notably the fact that Arthur is nearly 30 years older than Bruce in this timeline. A sequel would either have to depict Bruce as a teenager coping with the death of his parents, or a young adult Bruce just starting out his career as Batman.
For the former, an interesting option could be Timothee Chalamet, the young critical darling who began making waves with his performance in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Luca Guadagino’s Call Me By Your Name. While he’s avoided the comic book genre thusfar, he’s also one of the best young actors of this generation, and would certainly have the range to display the trauma Bruce is struggling to let go of. If the film wanted to skew towards an older Bruce coming face-to-face with an even older Arthur, there would be a much larger crop to work with. Nicholas Hoult could be an interesting choice, as he was once a frontrunner to play Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ reboot. Casey Affleck, Ryan Gosling, or Karl Urban also spring to mind, each of them actors talented enough to hold their own against a performer like Joaquin Phoenix.
All of this is of course hypothetical, as there’s no promise that we’ll even get a sequel to Joker, let alone one that would revolve around Bruce Wayne or Batman. However, there’s no denying that this version of Gotham City is one that’s wholly unique, and would in turn birth a Caped Crusader with his own unique set of traumas and ideals.
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