Earlier this week, the internet collectively lost their minds at the first photos of Joaquin Phoenix in full Joker regalia shooting a scene taking place in a subway station. While those pictures were pretty amazing, this shot of the Gotham City subway map (seen below) being used in Joker is absolutely crammed full of references to Batman’s cinematic history, the Arkham series of video games and prominent comic book writers and artists from across the years.
Now, I’m not a certified Batmanologist, but I like to think I know my stuff. So, we have the Snyder District (this could either reference Zack Snyder or writer Scott Snyder), stations called Nolan Lane and Kane County (obviously after Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman), and references to Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart, Alan Grant, Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. This might be where my Bat knowledge runs dry, but there’s a ton of names on this map, so if you think you can spot any other nods, be sure to let us know in the comments section.
It’s as yet unknown which locations will be seen in Joker, though it seems that Amusement Mile is probably a safe bet, as are the series of stations named Prince St., Kings Av, Queens Av and Jester Place (no prizes for guessing which one of those the Joker would favor). Interestingly, Gotham’s hipster neighborhood Burnside gets a prominent shout-out, too, as it’s currently known as the territory of Batgirl. It’s probably unlikely that the hero will feature in this film, though we do know they’re mining inspiration from The Killing Joke in which she plays a prominent role.
Whatever the case, it’s neat that the movie’s taking care with even these incidental details that might not be visible in the final cut. It just proves that, if nothing else, this team knows their Batman and has an in-depth appreciation of multiple eras of the character’s long history. Let’s just hope that translates into a fantastic film when Joker hits cinemas on October 4th, 2019.
