It’s safe to say Warner Bros. are pleased with Joker. Despite their initial misgivings about the project, going so far as to limit its budget in an attempt to dissuade the creators, it’s gone on to wild success, becoming the first R-rated movie to ever break $1 billion at the box office. Based on that alone, there will be sequels, but those potential sequels might have been very different if Todd Phillips had gone with this crazy alternate ending.
Writer, director and super fan Kevin Smith revealed the insider information on his Fatman Beyond show. Before dishing out the information he noted that he himself had some doubts as to whether this was ever seriously considered, but if anyone’s got insider information into comic book movies, it’s Kevin Smith.
Here’s how he says it would have gone down:
“Originally, the ending in the hospital was different. He’s in the hospital and he laughs, chuckles, and he says, “I was just thinkin’ of something funny.” What was supposed to happen was you flashed back to the death or Thomas and Martha Wayne and it was him killing Thomas and Martha Wayne and the boy was screaming and crying and he turned to walk away and he turned back, shrugged, and shot the kid. Credits.”
Damn, now that’s one way to end a movie. Finishing off Joker with him fantasizing about murdering a nine-year-old Bruce Wayne on screen would certainly have set tongues wagging. It may also have blocked off any potential sequel plans. I know I’m eager to find out what Batman looks like in this much more realistic Gotham City, and the sequels are almost certain to explore the two characters’ relationship, which they can’t do if he’s dead.
That said, the way Smith tells it there could well be a way to still have Batman in a sequel if Joker ended like this. After all, this scene takes place in Fleck’s imagination, and we know from the riot scene that it was a random ‘punk’ who actually shot the Waynes. So, this could merely be a premonition of things to come rather than something that actually happened.
