Warning: SPOILERS for Joker are ahead!
With all the money Joker has raked in over the last several months, it’s hardly surprising that there’s been talk about if we could see Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck again in a sequel. A decision still hasn’t been made about that yet, but going a step further, Joker director Todd Phillips is game to see a Batman movie that’s set within the Joker universe, saying:
It’s a beautiful Gotham. What I would like to see someone tackle is what Batman looks like from that Gotham.
For the most part, Joker didn’t take inspiration from the DC Comics lore, instead delivering a fresh narrative that paid tribute to Martin Scorsese films. However, there were still some elements from the original source material that were included, most notably Joker being set in Gotham City and the inclusion of the Wayne family, with Thomas Wayne in particular playing a big role and an adolescent Bruce Wayne getting some screen time.
Just like in most depictions of Batman’s origins, we saw Thomas and Martha Wayne being gunned down towards the end of Joker, being among the many victims of the riots caused by Arthur Fleck’s actions on television. So now Bruce Wayne is an orphan, meaning he could easily follow the same path as his comic book counterpart and one day become Batman.
Considering that Joker is rooted in an incredibly realistic world, even more so than Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, it would be interesting to see a Caped Crusader operate in this kind of Gotham City. However, just because Todd Phillips is interested in seeing that happen doesn’t mean he’d be the one to direct such a movie. He added to Variety:
I’m not saying I’m going to do that. What was interesting to me about the inclusion of Batman in our movie was, ‘What kind of Batman does that Gotham make?’ That’s all I meant by that.
So if a Joker continuity-set Batman movie is ever made, don’t expect it to be helmed by Todd Phillips. It is an intriguing prospect if Joker, a movie that was originally conceived as a standalone tale, could someday spawn a spinoff starring his future nemesis, with someone else overseeing that particular tale. Still, one can logically assume that if even if this kind of project were to be given serious consideration, Joker 2 would take precedence, and as mentioned earlier, even that’s not guaranteed yet.
As for what is in store for Batman’s film future, following Ben Affleck exiting the role, Robert Pattinson is donning the cape and cowl for The Batman, which is being directed by Matt Reeves. It doesn’t look like any version of The Joker will participate in that movie, but plenty of other members from the Caped Crusader’s rogues gallery will appear, including Catwoman, Riddler and Penguin.
Joker is now available for digital purchase, and you can pick up a Blu-ray or DVD copy starting next Tuesday, January 7. Feel free to look through our DC movies guide to learn what else is coming down the pipeline in this corner of the superhero movie realm.
