DC Has Quietly Redefined The Joker For the Modern Era, But Most Batman Fans Haven’t Noticed Yet
Few comic characters have evolved as much as The Joker. Nowadays, the character is less a supervillain and more an idea, his relationship with Batman given almost mythic significance. Some blame for this can be placed on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, which emphasized The Joker as an agent of chaos. In that film, The Joker was driven by a need to send a message: that society was just as corrupt as him. Years later, In the character’s first solo movie, 2019’s Joker, the villain’s murder of three upper-class businessmen stirs a political movement in Gotham. Though these two films are quite different, they represent a growing trend when it comes to The Joker’s characterization.
No longer is The Joker “The Clown Prince of Crime,” he’s someone out to prove something about society. Recent takes on the villain, such as in DC Comics’ Absolute Batman and Prime Video’s Batman: Caped Crusader, have built on this idea, framing The Joker as a master strategist who wants to disrupt the status quo. As this incarnation of the villain becomes more and more prevalent in media, the purpose of The Joker — and the character as a whole — has been redefined for modern audiences.
The Joker’s Gone From Mad Supervillain to A Society-Obsessed Mastermind
It seems every new incarnation of The Joker aims to reimagine the character. One of the most dramatic examples can be found in the ongoing series Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder. Absolute Batman imagines a world where Batman is not a billionaire, but a working-class engineer turned vigilante. The Joker, in turn, is depicted as billionaire Jack Grimm, in fact an ancient immortal demon. Here, The Joker’s wealth enables him to have reach far beyond Gotham. He has his hands in everything, being responsible for the creation of multiple villains in the Absolute universe — and even Batman himself.
Unlike his mainline counterpart, who revels in a meaningless universe, Absolute Joker believes in a social hierarchy with himself at the top. If we compare this take to another recent incarnation, Batman: Caped Crusader’s Joker, they appear on the surface quite different. The Joker in Caped Crusader seeks to throw Gotham into a state of chaos, using his toxin to disrupt the natural order. If we look deeper, however, both takes emphasize The Joker as a genius strategist. Caped Crusader’s Joker, for instance, is able to plan to the very minute what time his victims will die. And much like Absolute Joker, this incarnation clearly believes in his own superiority.
That’s because both of them, in a way, are after their own version of control. Though their philosophies differ, these Jokers want to disrupt the status quo: Absolute Joker to have power over it, and Caped Crusader to break it down completely. That these kind of takes on The Joker are becoming so prevalent reveals just how politically-charged the character has become.
A Joker for a Modern Era
When Joker released in 2019, there was much concern over whether the film would stir real-world political violence. While those fears were mostly unfounded, that they existed in the first place says a lot about the status of The Joker as a character. Indeed, one doesn’t have to look far to see the villain being used politically. Just take for instance the “we live in a society” meme, which used The Joker to mock perceived hypocrisies in society. The meme became so associated with The Joker it was quoted verbatim in The Snyder Cut of Justice League.
Adaptations have a large role to play in cultivating this modern image of the Clown Prince. Today, The Joker is almost a philosophical terrorist, obsessed with bringing the worst out of society instead of well, being obsessed with jokes. But maybe this evolution makes sense. After all, If we think about a film like The Dark Knight, that Joker was very much rooted in the social anxieties of when it came out. As comic book media continues to reflect the culture, it makes sense that The Joker has become a way to explore our darker side. In this regard, the modern Joker isn’t just a case of a comic book character evolving, but of a villain being redefined to match the times.
