Should The Batman lead to a new movie franchise, the makers would be wise to exclude The Joker or only give him a small role, and here's why. In 2022, Warner Bros. and DC will unleash their latest cinematic reinvention of Batman, the caped protector of Gotham City. Robert Pattinson, once best known for Twilight but now an acclaimed dramatic actor, will take over the Batman role, playing a younger version of Bruce Wayne that's earlier on in his burgeoning career as a crime-fighter.
Like the Joker origin movie starring Joaquin Phoenix and helmed by Todd Phillips, director Matt Reeves' The Batman is set to be a standalone entry into the DC movie canon, at least in the sense in that it's not connected to the established DCEU continuity. However, if Pattinson's decidedly dark and brooding take on Batman/Bruce Wayne proves popular with fans, one can bet that Warner Bros. won't hesitate to try and capitalize on that with one or more sequels to The Batman.
The Batman is taking the somewhat risky route of featuring multiple villains, including The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman, and Carmine Falcone. Such a strategy has worked well for films like Batman Begins, but helped sink misfires like Spider-Man 3. One Batman villain not set to be included is The Joker, and as popular as he is, that's for the best. In fact, The Batman should make a point not to feature The Clown Prince of Crime.
Why The Joker Can’t Appear In The Batman Franchise
Without question, The Joker is Batman's most dangerous foe, and his signature arch nemesis, as well as a great character in his own right. That much was proven when he was able to carry his own hit film in 2019. However, that's precisely the reason why Mr. J could probably use a break, and the separate The Batman franchise is the perfect opportunity to do that. When Joker is involved with a project, so often the focus becomes him, even sometimes more than Batman himself. For example, look at all the fervor surrounding Jared Leto's Joker returning in Zack Snyder's Justice League, despite him only being set to appear for a small chunk of it.
When theatrical animated films are included, The Joker has been the sole villain of or had a central role in a whopping eight DC movies, soon to be nine with the Snyder Cut. Those numbers dwarf movie appearances by equally well-known but not as often used villains like The Riddler, The Penguin, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze, and that's not even including woefully overlooked Gotham baddies like Clayface, Solomon Grundy, Hush, and Killer Croc into the mix. Aside from the already filmed Snyder Cut and a possible sequel to the Joaquin Phoenix film, there's no real reason why The Joker can't go on hiatus for a bit. Fans won't forget about him, but the spotlight opportunities his not dominating the scene in The Batman and its possible sequels affords to other members of Batman's rogues' gallery are priceless. The Batman is taking a good first step by not including him, and that should remain in place, at least for a good while.
