How Many Joker Films Is Too Many?

Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? Well, of course there is. But what if the thing in question is a beloved character who has seen stellar highs and painful lows in motion pictures? Well, in that case... the jury is out, but we may soon find out. With the announcement that actor Jared Leto will don his leather pants and garish tattoos once again in a Joker solo movie on top of the myriad other solo Joker films in various stages of production, we have to ask, how many Joker films is too many?

Some might say any number of them is simply too many, and with good reason. The Joker has been a character who has plagued Gotham City with tirades of crime for almost a century. With iconic performances by Heath Ledger and Mark Hamill as particular standouts, good ol’ Mr. J has been portrayed over the decades by some of the greatest actors (and voice actors) in both live action and animated incarnations. To think Warner Bros. is willing to hang up the spurs on the character in upcoming properties is a ridiculous notion, but at what point will is his exposure become too much for fans?

If this project is yet another character origin story, it might be the breaking point. Fans have seen various versions of how the Clown Prince of Crime came to be. Whether he was a gangster who had personal ties to the Wayne family, or a mysterious anarchist with a penchant for creating elaborate power plays in criminal organizations for no other reason than he enjoys it, the origin of The Joker has always been, and always should be, multiple choice.

The Joker might be comics’ greatest unreliable narrator. Even in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s legendary graphic novel The Killing Joke, one of the first stories to take a deep dive into the background of The Joker, the origin that plays out on the page is just one possible reality to how Batman’s greatest enemy became the psychotic clown we all know (and love?) today.

Comics are constantly retconning and scrapping bits and pieces of superhero lore to update the characters for modern audiences. Timelines fold in on one another, and reboots are a dime a dozen, but one of the most persistent things about The Joker is that his origin is ultimately a mystery. It’s this mystique the character exudes that makes him so captivating. While just about every other member of Batman’s Rogues Gallery has a definitive background steeped in tragedy, betrayal and personal vendettas, The Joker stands out because his reasoning for doing what he does can merely be inferred, at best.

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So do we need a Joker origin story with an A-list actor like Leonardo DiCaprio doling out all the juicy secrets of a character who has been shrouded in secrecy for decades? The short answer is, no. Less is definitely more, in this case. No film could possibly create a defining Joker origin story. Decades of comic books and other media featuring the character wouldn’t allow it, making the whole an endeavor an act of futility from a narrative standpoint.

To put it simply: we don’t want to know. Not knowing is what make The Joker so scary in the first place. The notion that a man would go to such great lengths to punish so many for no reason other than personal amusement is the pinnacle of true villainy. And while, yes, the best comic book villains are complex and even sympathetic at times, The Joker lives outside the box in a realm of reason that only his twisted mind can comprehend.

The DCEU has not exactly been knocking it of the park with fans and critics. In fact, with the exception of 2017’s Wonder Woman, there hasn’t been a runaway hit that has captured both groups. One of the more chided facets of this multi-film experiment has been Jared Leto’s portrayal of The Joker. While Leto has proven himself a fine actor in films like Dallas Buyers Club (which won Leto an Oscar) and Requiem for a Dream (which was simply soul-crushing), he had some pretty big shoes to fill after Heath Ledger redefined the character in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 mega-hit The Dark Knight.

To his credit, Leto and director David Ayer tried something different with their interpretation of the character in 2016’s Suicide Squad, making The Joker a slithery gangster with a style that vacillated between Juggalo and SoundCloud rapper. And while he didn’t get much screen time for fans to really gauge whether Leto’s iteration of the character worked, what we saw wasn’t exactly making us chomp at the bit to see more.

Playing a character of this magnitude is a thankless task, to be sure. But driving it into the group is a fool’s errand. If the DCEU can pick up the pieces and utilize Leto’s take on The Joker in meaningful way, we are all for it, but the possibility of giving away all his dirty little secrets in a solo film may not be the best way to go about doing so.

The Joker works best as Batman’s main foil. Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson didn’t need solo stories to give their performances depth and impact. They just had to be the antithesis to The Caped Crusader. So perhaps, when The Joker makes his triumphant return to the big screen, he can share and play not-so-nice with Master Bruce. Wouldn’t that be a novel idea?

CBR

How Many Joker Films Do We Need, Really?

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