I Am The Knight
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Me likey! Love The King of Comedy.
I'm confused over what they're doing with this. So the Joker first becomes active in the 1980s? So I guess Batman (in this universe) was too, thereby making them both senior citizens in the present day?
Well, for all the people who hated Joker having a background in B89, will probably be upset about him being a failed comedian in this.
This movie is not part of the DCEU.
That's something I've never understood. The Killing Joke is considered this seminal work in Batman canon and a lot of it was about an origin for the Joker that supposedly is hypothetical.
Not the same at all. For a start TKJ doesn't even give him a name, unlike in B'89. Second of all TKJ presents that failed comedian story as one possible origin story, as Joker himself states that he always remembers his past differently, and he likes it that way.
Nothing is set in stone there. His failed comedian origin could be a total fabrication of his crazy mind.
Not the same at all. For a start TKJ doesn't even give him a name, unlike in B'89. Second of all TKJ presents that failed comedian story as one possible origin story, as Joker himself states that he always remembers his past differently, and he likes it that way.
Nothing is set in stone there. His failed comedian origin could be a total fabrication of his crazy mind.
The Killing Joke was never about The Joker's origin. It was about The Joker trying to convince himself that he isn't a monster and that he is not different from everyone else. That's why he kidnaps Gordon and shoots his daughter, so he can prove that "all it takes is one bad day". The "origin" was a fantasy that The Joker concocted up in his own mind to justify his own actions. He all but admits that when he tells Batman "if you have to have a past, why not multiple choice". He's basically telling Batman that his origin is ******** and he makes it up as he goes.
Fundamentally, the story is not about The Joker's past. If Alan Moore wanted to make it about the past of The Joker and make it a definitive origin story he would've written the story completely differently. He goes out of his way to keep it, at best - ambiguous. He never commits to that actually being The Joker's past.
...which is why Ledgers Joker is the best non-comic interpretation of the character. You detail a backstory, you destroy a lot of his mystique.
For all intents and purposes what was outlined in The Killing Joke IS his origin story.
If you judge The Killing Joke in a vacuum, yeah it could just be a fake story but it has taken a life of its own.
This is why there is no mystique to destroy. He fell into a vat of acid. There may be stories out there where his origin is different but by and large that's what happened to him. Two live action Jokers have adopted that backstory and I don't think they were hindered by it at all (Leto was hindered by a bunch of other things, though).
This movie is not part of the DCEU.
If this movie is good, just build the whole Batman franchise around this era and forget about the DCEU
Batman - Jake Gyllenhaal
The Joker - Joaquin Phoenix
Leto and Affleck will quickly be forgotten. Theyre like the George Lazenbys or Andrew Garfields of the Batman franchise
So you can choose to view TKJ as his official origin if you like. That's your own choice. Factually it is not official in any way. Unless someone here has evidence to the contrary that I am unaware of (and please post it if anyone here does). Being his most famous possible origin doesn't equate to it being the official one.
I'm saying it's basically his origin because nine out of ten times if anything about his past is referenced it's in accordance with that story. It's canon in the DC comics universe.
I just don't see the big deal about showing his origin. Yes, the mystique added to the Heath Ledger version, much like the origin could add to this movie's version.