Joker has come to the big screen several times, and every version that has hit a movie theater has been drastically different from each other. And not only are they all different, but they are also not like the version of the character seen in the comic books. The movies had mob bosses, anarchists, and comedians, while the version from the comics was very different.
There have been three different versions of Joker in DC Comics, and that was explained in a recent miniseries called Batman Three Jokers. Each of these versions had big moments in the comics, and there is a lot that the movies have never touched on in the stories.
Joker Was A Basic Criminal In The Start
In the Batman comics of the Golden Age, the Caped Crusader mostly fought gangsters and criminals on the streets. This was similar to Superman, as the two superheroes were just there to save people from regular criminals. However, one of these was colorful and first appeared in Batman #1 in 1940.
That was Joker. He was just a criminal at the time and appeared to die in the comic after his battle with Batman. However, fans loved him and DC brought him back, making him Batman's first real returning supervillain.
Joker Possibly Has A Super Power In The Comics
In Tim Burton's first Batman movie, Joker died but that never happened again in the movies. In The Dark Knight, Two-Face died but Joker went to prison. In Zack Snyder's movies, Joker was always running free. He also lived in his own movie.
In the comics, there have been several times that Joker seemed to die. However, he always returned and there is the rumor that Joker's secret power was that he never died.
Joker's Identity Is A Secret
In Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, Joker has an origin story and he killed Bruce Wayne's parents. This is not true in the comics. In Joker, he is a comedian who believes he is Thomas Wayne's illegitimate son. This is also not true in the comics.
In the comics, his identity is more like what is seen in The Dark Knight, where no one knows who he is and he never reveals it. Joker has been around for a long time, and his origin is still a mystery to DC readers.
Joker Was More Comical Than The Movies
In almost all the Batman movies, as well as Joker, he has been a criminal, murderer, and was as evil as they come. However, for a large majority of his time in the comics, he was played as a comedy villain. This all started in 1954 when the Comics Code forced DC to make Joker less violent.
Most of these comics have Joker taking on absurd schemes, including the 1970s DC Comics Joker story where he turned fish into Joker-fish using a toxin and then trademarked them to get rich. This finally changed in the late 1980s.
Joker Was A Major Enemy Of Dick Grayson
In the movies, Joker was always one of Batman's most persistent villains. This is also mostly true in the comics. However, in the comics, he is also a massive enemy of Dick Grayson, the first Robin. As a matter of fact, Joker felt he was connected to Batman, but he absolutely hated Dick.
Fans of the animated movies know that Joker killed Jason Todd. He also traumatized Tim Drake. However, Joker was never able to break Dick Grayson and he was the Robin that he hated more than any other.
Joker Always Targeted Commissioner Gordon
In the movies, Joker targeted Batman and Harvey Dent, but he always had another target that he was connected with in the comics. Joker always wanted, more than anything, to break Commissioner Gordon. In The Killing Joke, Joker shot Barbara Gordon because he was trying to break her dad.
Joker also murdered Commissioner Gordon's wife, yet every step of the way, he could never break Jim, which drove Joker mad. Even in 2021 comics, Commissioner Gordon was paid to kill Joker and he still wouldn't take that dark path.
Joker Actually Has Some Morals In The Comics
In the movies, Joker is mostly an unhinged criminal, portrayed as either a gangster or an anarchist. He wants nothing more than to either rule over others or to create chaos. However, in the comics, his entire focus is on his feud with Batman and he has actually shown that he has morals, at times.
In a DC/Marvel crossover, Joker actually stood up and fought Red Skull because he is a criminal, but he is not a Nazi. In Batman: Going Sane, Joker believes that Batman died and suddenly stops his evil ways and becomes a law-abiding citizen.
Batman Won't Kill Joker
In Tim Burton's Batman movie, it ends with Joker falling to his death. In Zack Snyder's movies, Batman never kills Joker, but in their one battle, he didn't seem to worry too much about what happened to the Clown Prince of Crime. In The Dark Knight, Batman left Joker to go to jail.
However, in the comics, Batman has actually saved Joker's life more than once. Nightwing almost beat Joker to death and Batman gave Joker CPR to save him so Nightwing wouldn't go down as a murderer. Batman also did everything he could to save Joker from death more than once, making him almost responsible for Joker's future victims.
Joker Had A Previous Identity In The Comics
In the movies, Joker has mostly always been Joker. There was his origin story in Tim Burton's Batman, and he was a failed comedian in Joker, but in the comics, he had a very different start. In an origin story that was told years after his first appearance, Joker was formerly known as Red Hood.
He was a criminal who wore a Red Hood over his head and committed crimes. It was after falling into some acid that he became Joker. After Joker killed Jason Todd, and the young Robin returned from the dead, he took on the title of Red Hood, and it was in reference to Joker's previous identity.
There Are Three Jokers
While it was published in the DC Black line of comics, which is not always canon, the comics revealed there have been more than one Joker throughout history. This was used to explain why Joker obviously changed in the comics.
The original Joker was a basic criminal and this was the one that worked throughout the early Batman comics in the golden age. There was also the clown Joker, which was who was active in the '70s and '80s as the comedic version. Finally, there was the comedian, which was the one who shot Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke and has been around most over the last few decades.