Spider-Man Parodies Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker in New Marvel Comic

The world of comic book adaptations has involved in some pretty interesting ways over the years, with movies and TV shows taking previously-unprecedented approaches on iconic characters. One of the most buzzworthy ones of those in recent years was Joker, which Joaquin Phoenix bringing a dark take on the Clown Prince of Crime last year. The film has ultimately gone on to win multiple Oscars and make a significant amount of money, while also being a pretty polarizing piece of art among audience members. With that in mind, it didn’t take too long for the movie to become the subject of parody in other comics — and the latest issue of Spider-Ham might be the best yet. Spoilers for Spider-Ham #5 below! Only look if you want to know!

The issue picks up on Spider-Ham and his various allies being under the control of Mojo, who (unsurprisingly) decided to use them to act out various parodies. After “rebooting” Spider-Ham into a Family Guy-like sitcom setting, Mojo revealed that another hero had gotten the same fate — Earth-616’s Spider-Man, who had reluctantly been following Peter Porker on his journey. Spider-Man was shown sporting a red, blue, and yellow pantsuit and tie, a long head of hair, and face paint that looked vaguely like Spider-Man’s cowl. Mojo then remarked that he could use Spider-Man “to explore complex, mature themes like violence and mental illness,” despite not knowing what he actually wanted to say about either topic.

If it wasn’t obvious who Spider-Man was supposed to be parodying, a page later on in the issue showed the wall-crawler dancing erratically, completely oblivious to Spider-Ham and his friends fighting Mojo.

Before being turned back to normal, Spider-Man is also shown stretching the sides of his mouth into a ghastly smile, not unlike one of Phoenix’s key scenes in Joker.

While the parody never acknowledges Joker by name, it does a pretty stellar job of acknowledging a lot of the now-iconic characteristics of Phoenix’s Joker, without also getting into the film’s more R-rated territory. Plus, Spider-Man being mashed up with one of DC’s most dastardly villains probably isn’t something that fans had been anticipating.

What do you think of Spider-Ham‘s parody of Joker? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!