The Joker is one of the most feared individuals in the entire DC Universe. The Flash villain Trickster once said of the Joker, "when villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories." The Clown Prince of Crime is considered by many to be not only Batman's greatest villain but the greatest villain in all of comics as well. However, the villains over in the Marvel Universe might have something to say about that.
If the Joker ever made his way into the Marvel Universe, he'd quickly prove to be a wild card that the Marvel villains would want to eliminate from the playing field, so here's a look at five Marvel villains Joker could defeat as well as five that he would lose to.
10 COULD DEFEAT: Arcade
Once in the Marvel Universe, Joker's first destination would be Murderworld. Because he's the Joker, he'd be upset that it's not dangerous enough for him and then seek to take out its creator for gimmick infringement.
The X-Men villain Arcade is the madman behind Murderworld. The robotics and engineering genius is a dangerous individual, but his madness pales in comparison to the Joker. Arcade would be best served to try and get on Joker's good side and build him some tech rather than engage in a fight he wouldn't win.
9 WOULD LOSE TO: Loki
On paper, Joker and Loki would be the best of friends. Loki is the Asgardian god of mischief, so of course, he loves a good joke as much as anybody. The Joker, though, is very particular about jokes played on him, so if Loki attempted any sort of funny business that would be an instant act of war.
Unfortunately for Joker, nothing in his bag of tricks is going to be able to do any harm to Loki. Rather than simply dispatch the Joker, like Loki easily could, he'd recognize that Joker would keep coming at him, and could potentially find a way to upgrade himself in rematches. Loki would then cast a spell to make Thor look either like him or Batman so Joker would direct his crazy towards his brother.
8 COULD DEFEAT: Purple Man
Fans of Jessica Jones (both the comics and the TV show versions) know how deadly the Purple Man can be. Through chemical pheromones his body produces, Purple Man can control the actions of others. Sometimes he does this for his own benefit, while other times he does this to do harm to his opponent, or do harm to someone else without having to get his hands dirty.
While Purple Man's power is hard to resist, it's not impossible. The Joker is immune to most poisons so his body would likely reject Purple Man's pheromones on its own. Even if not, the Joker's mind is too chaotic for Purple Man to penetrate. Joker would then take out Purple Man before he could get anyone else to do his fighting for him.
7 WOULD LOSE TO: Emma Frost
Though these days Emma Frost is generally a member of the X-Men, she started out as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club and has had a few villainous turns over the years.
As an Omega-Class telepath on par with Charles Xavier, Emma Frost should have little trouble with the Joker. But similar to Purple Man, Frost may find the Joker's mind difficult to navigate. Not impossible, but it would take her precious time she doesn't have against someone as deadly as the Joker, so she'd be best off just turning into her diamond form and punching Joker out.
6 COULD DEFEAT: Nightmare
In the Marvel Universe, Nightmare rules the Nightmare Realm of the Dream Dimension. He is also one of the seven Fear Lords and is a frequent villain of Doctor Strange. What chance does the Joker have against someone this powerful?
For Nightmare's powers to have any effect, his opponents have to possess some sort of fear. The Joker's insanity makes him virtually fearless, which would mean Nightmare would have no power over him.
5 WOULD LOSE TO: Carnage
On the surface, the Joker and Carnage have a lot in common. So much so that they even teamed up together. Back in the 1995 Marvel/DC crossover Spider-Man And Batman: Disordered Minds, the Joker and Carnage sought to embark on a rampage of terror, but due to creative differences, the Joker ended the partnership.
While there's usually a method to the Joker's madness, ending a partnership with Carnage is just mad on the Joker's part. With Carnage now considering the Joker an enemy, he'd be more inclined to sever the relationship his own way, which generally includes a lot of Symbiote-created sharp objects that the Joker would have no answer for.
4 COULD DEFEAT: Mysterio
Mysterio is a classic Spider-Man villain and is the master of illusions in the Marvel Universe. His illusions have even managed to fool those with heightened senses such as Wolverine during the Old Man Logan story.
Mysterio's illusions may manage to fool the Joker for a moment or two, but Mysterio's mistake would be attempting to use the hallucinogens from his suit on the Joker. They wouldn't work due to Joker's toxin immunity but they would make Joker aware of Mysterio's presence. If the Joker didn't like the illusions he was seeing, he would put an end to Mysterio.
3 WOULD LOSE TO: Green Goblin
The source of the Joker's madness remains a mystery to this day, but the source of the Green Goblin's insanity is not. Norman Osborn was driven insane by the same goblin formula that gave him his powers, though if he had to do it over again, it's highly unlikely Osborn would change a thing.
While Joker and Green Goblin are both sadistic geniuses, the Green Goblin would come out on top because the goblin formula puts the Goblin in a power class above the Joker. And with his Goblin Glider, the Goblin could easily avoid any attacks from the Joker while launching pumpkin bombs at him at his leisure.
2 COULD DEFEAT: Red Skull
The arch-nemesis of not only Captain America but America in general, the Red Skull is one of the oldest and most enduring villains in comics. Through psionic mind transference, the Red Skull is able to transfer his mind to different bodies as needed to ensure the World War II-era villain will always remain a threat to the Marvel Universe.
Against the Joker, the Red Skull's deadly "dust of death" would be useless. Red Skull is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, but the Joker has too many gadgets he'd be more than happy to use to take down the Red Skull – for America!
1 WOULD LOSE TO: Doctor Doom
No hypothetical villains battle would be complete without arguably the greatest villain from DC coming head to head with arguably the greatest villain from Marvel. Doctor Doom is possibly the biggest threat to the Marvel universe, as his intelligence and sorcery skills are second to none and he's always searching for ways to become more powerful.
The calculating Doom would take no chances against the Joker. While Doom has Joker vastly outpowered, he would recognize the twisted genius of the latter and blast him before the Joker could put any sort of plan together.