Fan Fridays: Does Batfleck’s Stance on Killing Point to the Joker’s Identity?

Since the first reveal of Jared Leto’s rendition of the Clown Prince of Crime hit the scene, […]

September 6, 2017, 5:20am

Since the first reveal of Jared Leto’s rendition of the Clown Prince of Crime hit the scene, there’s been a certain rumor going around town about the Joker not being who he seems. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice presented us with a Bruce Wayne far harsher than the character we’re used to. This Dark Knight directly and indirectly killed his foes, which is actually more common than you’d think among the on-screen interpretations of the Caped Crusader. The question arises though when you think about why the Batman hasn’t killed his greatest foe. Why hasn’t Bruce Wayne killed the Joker? Comicbook.com fan Jeremy Sanchez believes he knows the answer. The Joker is Jason Todd, Batman’s former protégé.

Yes, the rumor that the Joker in the new DC Cinematic Universe is in fact Jason Todd, the second Robin, has been bouncing around for some time now. Certainly, it would make for a fantastic reveal, but could it be possible that this one time Boy Wonder has donned the guise of Batman’s oldest enemy? From looking at the tattoos on Jared Leto’s character, you can clearly see that one of them happens to be a robin, showing his obsession with the teen sidekick. Batman V Superman prominently displayed during one scene an older Robin costume, with the phrase: “HA HA THE JOKE’S ON YOU BATMAN!” written in bright yellow letters on the tarnished outfit. Zack Snyder has even confirmed that the Joker killed Robin around ten years ago in this brave new world!

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So how does Batman’s stance on killing point toward this? Well considering the fact that the Joker is still in the land of the living, there must be some reason as to why the Dark Knight hasn’t put the final nail in the Joker’s coffin. That reason, could potentially be, that Todd killed the Joker and took his identity after losing his mind from either being tortured or resurrected. Batman may be willing to kill criminals in the DC Cinematic Universe, but his former sidekick? I don’t believe that Bruce Wayne could bring himself to murder his greatest failure staring at him directly in the face. What also leads credence to the idea of Robin taking the identity of the Joker is that it’s happened before!

In the Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker animated film, Robin (Tim Drake) was kidnapped and tortured by the Joker, eventually falling into madness and becoming a miniature version of the laughing antagonist. Far in the future, Drake began becoming the Joker once again due to some state of the art technology. Since the DC Cinematic Universe is pulling from stories that are already established to line the walls of their saga, such as the Death of Superman and the Dark Knight Returns, this storyline seems right up their alley. Batman not killing the Joker, even when he racked up a body count in Batman V Superman, may in fact point to the idea that Jason Todd became his own version of the Clown Prince of Crime, and that is the version that Jared Leto is portraying.

What do you think of this theory? Have a theory of your own? Send it fans@comicbook.com and your theory may be run on our next installment of Fan Fridays.

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