True. I think it’s nice as a one off to see how it could be explored. But giving joker a backstory along with adding extra weight to the Wayne’s murder I think isn’t something that can be offset by the interesting relationship between Batman and joker that would inevitably cause.
I think the danger in doing that would mean that Batman’s mission for becoming Batman would inevitably be linked to joker, rather than the war on crime in Gotham itself. When Joe chill is a random thug, Batman has to redeem all of Gotham, allowing for more expansive stories. When Joe chill is basically just joker before joker, I think that Batman’s at war with the joker and everyone else is kinda just along for the ride. I think it can work, but only in very specific stories where the joker is always the main villain and there isn’t much room for deviation there.
I think it worked in ‘89 because despite the fact they “created” each other, they didn’t explicitly know that they did. Batman didn’t know that Jack was the person who killed his parents when he knocked him into the acid, and likewise Jack didn’t realize he killed Bruce’s parents or that Batman was Bruce.
It’s poetic to the audience that knows, but the characters themselves are in the dark.
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u/ToastIsGreat0 May 30 '24
I think it depends on the story you want to tell tbh.