There’s been a lot of focus on the DC Universe reboot over the past month or so, so much so that it seems like it’s been the only focus of attention. However despite all the attention the reboot has received, most of it has been towards the new titles and heroes starring in said titles. There has been very little focus if any at all towards the villains of the Universe.
I’d like to take this time to consider the fate of not only DC’s greatest villain nor comics’ greatest but perhaps the greatest villain in all of fiction. The Clown Prince of Crime, the Harlequin of Hate, ladies and jerks, The Joker!!
Where all the news concerning the reboot has been focused on Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl (the Bat-family), there has been no news about the character that has been most responsible for the success of the franchise. I would even boldly say that without the Joker, Batman would only be at the level of popularity of Moon Knight or Mister Terrific.
Now there’s a lot of things that could be changed with regards to the Joker but I think the less that is changed with him the better. I mean why try to fix something that doesn’t need any fixing? Well the whole DC Universe can be put in this same situation yet parts of it are getting a reboot. So let’s see what they should keep and what could possibly be improved with regards to the Joker.
For starters, I think it is best that we don’t have a certain origin for him. I wouldn’t mind writers thinking of more creative ways of how the Joker became what he is, but only if they don’t try to make it definitive. The fact that the Joker changes his origin every time he’s asked of it, refers to his own chaotic state, and whether or not he even remembers what happened. It’s not important, per se, that we know his origin, but the Joker represents that all it takes is one bad day to generally ruin a good person.
Joker’s powers stay relatively the same; they could try to get more scientific about how his venom works but they should keep him as the Joker rather than say as a martial artist or something else.
If Barbara is de-aged and the Killing Joke is still canon, it’s very likely that the Joker would have been a pedophile. I don’t have a problem with this, someone as crazy as the Joker would certainly have gotten involved in something like this some time or another. But, I don’t want this to be a common theme for him, where any writer just writes him as a pedophile. Once or twice is fine, but constantly would just harm his character and reputation.
Also, since we know that Harley Quinn would be in Suicide Squad, it's almost certain that her and the Joker would be distant. It’s possible that they may have never even met. Although this is a bit disheartening, it could be for the better. Lately with Sirens (until it did a total back flip on itself), the two were beginning to cope without each other where Harley was learning to get along without the Joker, while the Joker was doing his own stuff and having fun as Oberon Sexton.
The most important thing to consider is how serious should the Joker be? Sure he needs to be comedic and needs to make use of his iconic laughter but he also needs to be sinister enough to classify as the greatest villain in all of fiction. There needs to be a good balance, otherwise part of what makes him great will be lost. Same thing with the costume, I was thinking of recommending his black robes in Batman and Robin and him being a symbol of death in that story but his iconic look is just too nostalgic to leave behind. So for the most part, the less they change the better. But is there anything I missed that you wouldn’t mind being changed about the Joker?
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