Warner Bros. and DC were once notorious for keeping a tight grip on how their superhero IPs were used. Those days came to end after the failure of Justice League, though it’s only now that we’re hearing the first plans about how crazy the DCEU could soon get.
In particular, the announcement that Michael Keaton is in talks to reprise the Burtonverse Batman role, becoming a kind of DC Nick Fury equivalent that connects various realities together indicates that there are big things in the pipeline. 2022’s The Flash will apparently kick things off in earnest, introducing the Multiverse and showing how characters can move within it. But if those gates can be opened, fans are immediately wondering what kind of stories we could see.
One possibility is having Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker going up against Batman. The timeline presented in Joker seemed to preclude this, as Fleck met a 9-year-old Bruce Wayne during the movie. That means that within the ‘Jokerverse,’ a young 20-year-old Batman would be facing off with a Joker in his 60s.
But if the Multiverse becomes a thing, why couldn’t Phoenix’s Joker battle Robert Pattinson’s Batman? Or, hell, why couldn’t we see Michael Keaton’s Batman getting back into the rubber suit to tangle with him?
Just because Warner Bros. can do this though doesn’t necessarily mean they should. I’d be satisfied if we never saw Phoenix’s Joker again, as his story felt complete after the pic ended. Crowbarring such a spectacular performance into a superhero crossover just feels like a cash grab to me. Beyond that, it’s difficult to see the realistic Gotham City of Joker stretching to encompass interdimensional travel. And would Phoenix even sign on to reprise the role for such a wild departure from the Joker tone?
We’re already almost certain that the sequel to The Batman will introduce a new Joker as well, so let’s save that one for jumping between alternate realities and let Phoenix’s continue to excel in his own separate cinematic world.
