What DC Comics The Batman’s Joker Is Based On

The deleted scene in The Batman featuring the Joker appears to show which DC comic influenced the origin of the villain’s design. Barry Keoghan (Eternals) is the latest actor to play the Joker, but The Batman‘s deleted scene never fully shows his face, with him shown out of focus behind glass, in close up, or from behind. Still, the glimpses that are shown can be pieced together to get an idea of what he looks like.

While the Joker in The Batman has green hair, it’s sparse and limited to tufts surrounded by damaged skin. He’s not wearing white makeup, and perhaps most notably, his mouth is a blistered and bulbous mass of scar tissue, permanently fixed into his signature smile, filled with wonky teeth. It’s a jarring version of the Joker not seen in any of the previous Batman movies, but elements of origin appear to have been influenced by one DC comic in particular.

The Batman‘s version of the Joker has a visual similarity to DC comics stand-alone graphic novel, Joker. Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo, the 2008 comic depicts a particularly horrific version of Batman’s nemesis. With a weathered face, rotting teeth, and scars permanently pulling his mouth back into a smile (even further than Heath Ledger’s version in The Dark Knight), Bermejo’s striking design gave the Joker a distinctive makeover that The Batman appears to take inspiration from.

The Batman’s Joker: DC Comics Influence Explained

The grisly design of the Joker in the DC comics matches the story’s disturbing twists and turns. In the DC comic, having been released from Arkham Asylum, the Joker sets out to reclaim Gotham City. Embarking on a brutal killing spree, Joker shows the Clown Prince of Crime at his most merciless, impulsive, and unhinged. Unsettling instances of the Joker’s ruthlessness include removing someone’s skin and committing rape. While previous Batman movies have routinely shown Joker to be a murdering psychopath, they’ve never gone that far. If The Batman 2 or the Arkham Asylum spin-off continues to take inspiration from Azzarello and Bermejo’s Joker, then his future appearances are likely to be similarly vicious. This would be in keeping with the darker tone that The Batman establishes, with Matt Reeves taking a more gritty, savage, and realistic approach to Batman’s rogues’ gallery. Keoghan’s Joker is not yet fully formed, but the character’s incarceration in Arkham indicates that he’s committed some atrocities.

Bermejo’s design isn’t the only influence on The Batman‘s version of the Joker. Reeves also took inspiration from Conrad Veidt’s character in the 1928 silent movie The Man Who Laughs (which was itself a key influence on the origin of the DC comics villain). Another influence was David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, with the Joker’s scarred smile a result of a congenital disease. While in real life someone’s external appearance doesn’t reflect who they are morally, that’s not true in the Joker’s case. Matt Reeves hasn’t committed to the Joker appearing in The Batman 2 but as and when he is fully revealed, Keoghan’s Joker will likely give Pattinson’s Batman hell.

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