Summary
- The DC Universe will introduce a new Batman continuity, meaning a new Joker may be featured in upcoming films.
- Barry Keoghan's portrayal of the Joker in The Batman is heavily inspired by Conrad Veidt's role in The Man Who Laughs, and Gunn has seemingly teased the same for the DCU's Joker.
- The DCU's Joker must be unique and different from previous portrayals, but drawing inspiration from The Man Who Laughs could lead to a successful iteration of the character.
The DC Universe will introduce a new Batman continuity with The Brave and the Bold, but the movie's perfect Joker already exists. There have been several live-action Joker actors over the years, including Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, and Joaquin Phoenix's versions of the Batman villain. While Leto played the character in the DCEU, he will most likely not be returning as the Joker in James Gunn's upcoming DC Universe.
DC's upcoming movies in the DCU will almost surely feature a new Joker, possibly starting with the still-to-be-dated Batman reboot movie, The Brave and the Bold. While each live-action version of the Joker has brought out a different side of the character, from mobster to gang leader to anarchist and beyond, there is one inspiration for how the Batman villain should be portrayed in the new DC Universe that has come up as quite commonly requested. However, that perfect version of the Joker already exists in live-action.
The Joker James Gunn Teased Is What Barry Keoghan's Doing In The Batman
Despite only having a cameo role in The Batman and a deleted scene released online to showcase his version of the Joker, Barry Keoghan's Clown Prince of Crime fits exactly the inspiration for the Batman villain that was seemingly teased by Gunn for the DCU. Gunn sparked Joker rumors when he posted images of Conrad Veidt in Paul Leni’s The Man Who Laughs on Twitter, talking about how the original Batman comic book creators agreed that Veidt's role in the movie — a character that had a smile carved on his face — served as the inspiration for the Joker.
While Keoghan's Joker has appeared very little so far, the actor's take on the iconic Batman villain is very clearly inspired by Veidt's role in The Man Who Laughs. Speaking with Variety, The Batman director Matt Reeves confirmed as much by comparing the two, saying, "He has a congenital disease where he can’t stop smiling and it’s horrific," and "his response was to say, ‘Okay, so a joke was played on me,’ and this was his nihilistic take on the world.” Keoghan's look as the Joker is appropriately grotesque, taking cues from The Man Who Laughs and positioning a challenge for the new DC Universe.
The DCU's Joker Is Inevitable - But Has To Be Very Different (& That's Hard)
While the DCU's Joker might not debut alongside whoever gets cast as Batman for the new universe in The Brave and the Bold, the Joker will inevitably have to come to the DCU one day. Batman can't be without his biggest villain for long, and so the Joker must come to the DC Universe. Whenever that happens, the DCU will have a very difficult task, as its version of the Joker will have to be different from the ones that came before.
When there are multiple popular takes on the Joker in live-action, that becomes hard. Still, if the DC Universe's Joker manages to take inspiration from The Man Who Laughs and still feel unique among the other live-action versions of the villain — as the best versions of the Joker have managed to do — then the DCU's version of the villain could succeed. Based on how well Keoghan's Joker — who is directly inspired by The Man Who Laughs — was received, Gunn's seeming tease for the direction of the DCU's Joker is the right path for the character's next live-action iteration.
Source: James Gunn/Twitter
