DC Fan Notices Connection Between Joker and Tim Burton’s Batman

The 92nd Annual Academy Awards are happening in a few weeks, and one movie that managed to earn 11 film nominations is Todd Phillips‘ Joker. While the comic book film is one of the more divisive movies of the season, there’s no denying that it’s made an impact on many DC fans. In fact, now that Joker is available for home viewing, people are starting to point out connections to previous DC films. In a recent post shared with the r/MovieDetails subreddit, a side by side image shows a small connection between Tim Burton’s 1989 film, Batman, and the new Joker.

“In Batman (1989) a painting the Joker has his eyes on is featured in the Joker (2019),” u/googsmaster24 pointed out.

Sure enough, the panting that is being admired by Jack Nicholson’s Joker can be seen hanging in the home of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. The painting is called “Boy in Blue” and was created by artist Thomas Gainsborough in 1770 during the Rococo period. Currently, the artwork resides in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

You can check out the images in the post below:

Many people commented on the post:

“I believe this painting is also the inspiration behind Django’s costume in Django Unchained (2012),” u/thebrownkid shared.

“And if you like it there’s 12 prints and 15 porcelain copies available at your local antique dealer! (This image is literally everywhere),” u/Larry-Man explained.

However, some argue that this choice was just a coincidence because Phillips has previously said there are no easter eggs in his movie.

“No, it’s clearly a mistake. Although DC fans will be endlessly poring over Joker in search of some juicy Easter eggs, director Todd Phillips insists there are none to be found. ‘I don’t do Easter eggs,” he said. ‘Any Easter eggs anybody finds is a mistake. I don’t understand,’” u/Shabba-Doo wrote.

Joker is nominated this year for Best Picture, Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Director (Todd Phillips), Best Original Music Score (Hildur Guðnadóttir), Best Adapted Screenplay (Todd Phillips & Scott Silver), Best Cinematography (Lawrence Sher), Best Sound Mixing (Dean A. Zupancic), Best Costume Design (Mark Bridges), Best Sound Editing (Albert Robert Murray), Best Film Editing (Jeff Groth), and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Nicki Ledermann).

Despite being the most nominated film this year, Joker is the lowest rated Best Picture nominee on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was met with mostly positive reviews when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it earned the festival’s top prize. However, the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score dropped down to 78% once it was screened again at the Toronto International Film Festival, and now it’s settled at 69%. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, the audience score is a bit higher, earning 88%. Comicbook.com’s own Brandon Davis loved the film, calling it an “insane masterpiece.” You can read the full review here.

The 92nd Academy Awards air Sunday, Feb. 9 on ABC.