Batman Writer Explains How “Joker War” Will Expand Gotham’s Mythos to Create New Storylines

The much anticipated “Joker War” event is finally here for Batman fans as James Tynion IV‘s run with the iconic character sees Gotham’s hero in a very different place than we ever have before. The Joker has flipped the script, as it were, and now has control of everything in Batman’s arsenal: Bruce Wayne’s wealth, all the vehicles, gadgets, and tech. Even with the shift in dynamic, though, it’s still a story that sees Batman and The Joker face off yet again, but don’t dismiss things as being another chapter of an endless struggle. Tynion has some new characters and elements at play as well, something the writer says will pay off in new mythos and new stories to come.

“I do think that people want something new, and that’s part of why, in a meta sense, that’s what I’m doing with this story. I’m trying to create new characters, bring them into the Gotham mythos, expand the Gotham mythos, change some of the core pillars of the Gotham mythos,” Tynion told SYFY Wire. “This is a lot of what Joker War does. It raises Gotham so that new stories can be built off of it, and that’s been one of the most exciting things in that mix is just being able to create a whole bunch of new story and threads that are going to pay off, not only later this year, but into next year.”

Some of that pay off comes into play with the new character, Ghost-Maker. Set to hit in Batman #100, the mysterious character isn’t exactly a villain, but he’s definitely not Batman’s ally — and according to Tynion he has strong ties to Bruce Wayne’s past.

“Ghost-Maker is a character who we’ll see a little bit of right at the end of Batman #100 but will come in in a big way in November and beyond,” Tynion explained. “This is a character who I’ve been excited about for a really long time. He’s definitely going to show up as an adversary to Bruce, but he is not necessarily a villain per se. He is someone that Bruce has known since he was a young man traveling around the world training to become Batman. And now, basically Bruce’s rival from when he was 15 years old has come back to Gotham City because he doesn’t think Bruce is doing a very good job. That’s the sort of core conceit, is creating this rival from youth that we’re going to see come in in a big way in the present.”

Are you excited to see where “Joker War” takes Gotham? Let us know in the comments below.