A recent DC Comics issue (Flashpoint Beyond #5) finally revealed one of the longest-kept secrets of teh DC Universe: the real name and origin of The Joker. Thanks to some interdimensional investigation by a Joker of a different reality (Flashpoint’s Martha Wayne/Joker), the secrets of the main Joker were revealed, including the fact that his name is actually Jack Oswald White. Well, as you may have guessed as soon as you heard that name, there is someone in the rockstar community who took a special shine to it: Jack White!
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In an Instagram post, Jack White had the following to say about his Joker connection:
I’d love to thank DC comics for giving The Joker the name of “Jack White” after me. Though his hair is usually not as blue as mine, i still take it as a flattering gesture on their part and consider it an honor. It was a lonely journey through my life being the only person with that name until now.
-Jack White III
Obviously, Jack White is having some cheeky humor fun with the name connection: “Jack White” is a name held by countless numbers of people across the world, so if anything, The Joker’s real name just reflects how common and unremarkable he was. The real curiosity in Joker’s name is the “Oswald” middle name, which actually makes him name buddies with Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin.
As stated, DC has long kept the details of the Joker’s origin a secret, preferring to lean into the mystique of the character acting as a force of chaos, as established by writers like Alan Moore (The Killing Joke), Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns), and of course Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. However, other Joker stories have used the name “Jack” as the character’s original moniker – most famously Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), which gave Joker a full-fledged origin story as Gotham gangster Jack Napier, who fell into a vat of chemicals while facing Batman during a foiled heist. Todd Phillips’ Joker went with a whole new original version of Joker’s origin, burrowing from Moore’s “Killing Joke” storyline with Joker being a failed comedian – albeit with the new name of “Arthur Fleck.”
At this point in his run, Joker’s real name is only about as “real” as the people who are familiar with that part of the lore. True to his character, three different people might have three different backstories for the version of Joker they know and love – including the one that a rockstar can now borrow.
A Joker movie sequel is currently in production
