Produced 19 years before Batman’s first appearance, the 1920 silent adaptation of The Mark of Zorro had an indelible effect on the character’s creation. In the DC Comics’ crossover event, “Joker War,” the Caped Crusader is once again pitted against his greatest enemy, the Joker. This time, however, the Clown Prince of Crime has done his homework, and is dead set upon using Bruce Wayne’s complicated history with The Mark of Zorro to destroy both Batman and Gotham City.
Zorro, Spanish for "fox," was created by Johnston McCulley in 1919. The pulp hero became an immediate success and The Mark of Zorro premiered the following year. Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger admitted to having seen the film and in subsequent interviews cited Zorro as a major influence. The similarities between the Fox and the Bat are obvious. In the film, Zorro sneaks around helping those in need while wearing head-to-toe black. Just like Batman, Zorro operates out of a cave-like cellar under his home, is assisted by his butler Bernardo, and maintains the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega. Zorro’s history with the Dark Knight would inspire future Batman creators to incorporate The Mark of Zorro into comic book lore. A new dark connection was introduced, and would soon further complicate Zorro and Batman’s relationship.
Like most superhero origins, Batman’s background has undergone many changes over the course of his eighty-year history. While the idea of Thomas and Martha Wayne being murdered outside a movie theater has remained relatively consistent, the exact film the Wayne family was attending has been a point of contention. Detective Comics #33 and Batman #1 each recount Bruce Wayne’s childhood trauma, but fail to mention the name of the movie. A Marlon Brando picture is mentioned in Detective Comics #500, but never subsequently corroborated.
It wasn’t until the legendary Frank Miller decided to give a nod to Kane and Finger in The Dark Knight Returns #1 that The Mark of Zorro is established. Miller cites the 1940 Tyrone Power adaptation, which was actually released after Batman’s creation, but the precedent was set. In Todd Phillips’ Joker film, 1981’s Zorro, the Gay Blade is the movie referenced. Whichever adaptation a creator chooses, Zorro and Batman’s histories are inextricably intertwined, which explains why Bruce’s archenemy decides to use the film against him.
In DC Comics' “Joker War,” the Joker has robbed Bruce Wayne of his fortune and used it to train and deploy a deadly clown army. Gotham is a fiery hellscape. To add insult to injury, he has also bought up all the local movie houses and is paying Gotham’s citizens to attend a deadly screening of - you guessed it - The Mark of Zorro. What will become of these innocent movie-goers? Only time will tell. But the use of The Mark of Zorro to kill those that Batman has sworn to protect is just another sign of Joker’s evil genius. He knows that Zorro is a painful part of Batman’s past and killing hundreds of thousands using the movie that his parents died after watching may reopen a wound that can never be closed. The evil irony of Joker’s plan is that the classic film that made the Batman may also be just the thing that destroys him forever.