The Joker is one of the most iconic villains in all of pop culture, so it isn’t surprising that the character has been portrayed numerous times on screen. The likes of Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, and Barry Keoghan have all brought the Joker to life on film, each actor putting their own spin on the material to make their iteration stand out. The villain’s rich big-screen history means James Gunn and Co. have their work cut out for them when figuring out the DC Universe’s version of the Joker. As fans wait to see who will play the shared universe’s Clown Prince of Crime, a tease on the Clayface set sheds light on how the DCU’s take will differ from what’s come before.
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On X (formerly Twitter), user DC Film News shared a new image from the Clayface set. The picture is of a flyer promoting a protest against the Gotham City Police Department taking place at Park Row. Interestingly, the text at the bottom reads “JOIN THE JOKER,” implying that the Joker himself has organized the event and is galvanizing the people of Gotham against city-wide corruption. Check out the image in the space below:
The DCU’s Joker Could Put a Fresh Spin on a Classic Character
Clayface will focus on the tragic story of Matt Hagen, a struggling actor who turns into Clayface after he injects himself with a strange substance. However, the film is bound to feature plenty of Easter eggs and references that flesh out the DCU’s version of Gotham City. Earlier Clayface set photos detailed a Gotham map that included several notable landmarks, such as Arkham Asylum, Wayne Tower, and Blackgate Penitentiary. There’s even been another Joker reference spotted in the form of street graffiti that reads “The Jokers,” suggesting there’s a group of people who side with Joker.
In various Batman-related media, the Joker typically has a surplus of loyal henchmen, but what’s being teased in Clayface feels like it goes beyond regular, run-of-the-mill goons who just want to commit crimes. The graffiti and the flyer seem to be setting the DCU’s Joker up as some kind of public or political figure with a sizable following. He’s actively recruiting people to his cause, using his platform to raise awareness about the corruption plaguing Gotham. Batman fans know that the GCPD can be questionable when it comes to morals and ethics (with the exception of Jim Gordon), so there’s likely some truth to the Joker’s message.
This would be an interesting change of pace for on-screen Joker portrayals. In The Dark Knight, Ledger’s Joker famously embarked on a mission to show how even someone as noble as Harvey Dent was capable of horrifically dark actions, but he was an “agent of chaos” who just wanted to watch the world burn. Other versions similarly were more interested in causing as much havoc as possible. In contrast, the DCU’s Joker appears to have higher aspirations, doing what he feels is best for Gotham by uniting the city’s citizens against corrupt establishments.
Of course, this is still the Joker we’re talking about, so there’s probably some twisted nature to his methods that puts him in Batman’s crosshairs. Even if Joker is still a villain, the DCU’s take has the potential to be very refreshing. Seeing the Joker operate as the charismatic leader of a counterculture movement could be fun, allowing the DCU’s iteration to stand apart from the other fan-favorite (and Oscar-winning) versions we’ve seen before. Finding a unique way to explore the character is a necessity, especially since projects like Clayface are releasing in the same era as Matt Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga. It’ll be interesting to see how much of the Joker’s history is covered in Clayface, but these teases make something like The Brave and the Bold all the more intriguing.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
