DC Universe’s The Brave and the Bold means that DC could have four different live-action Jokers in less than ten years. The first Batman-related project announced for DC Studios’ new DC Universe, The Brave and the Bold will be part of the franchise’s Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Not much has been revealed about The Brave and the Bold’s story, except that it will feature Damian Wayne as Robin and the Bat-Family.
James Gunn and Matt Reeves had made clear that Robert Pattinson’s Batman would not be part of the new, interconnected DC Universe. While this was expected, a DC Universe would never be complete without Batman. That is why DC will now introduce yet another Batman iteration, which also means new versions of his villains and supporting characters.
The Brave & The Bold Sets Up The 2020s' 4th Live-Action Joker
The fact that Damian Wayne will be the DCU’s Robin in The Brave and the Bold suggests that Bruce Wayne is at a later point in his Batman career compared to Superman: Legacy’s Clark Kent. As such, Batman’s Rogues Gallery is probably already fully formed, similar to how the DC Universe’s first Batman movie will feature the Bat-Family, as confirmed by James Gunn. In that scenario, it is safe to say that the DC Universe's Batman has already faced the Joker at some point in his career, meaning that The Brave and the Bold could introduce – or at least set up – the 2020s’ fourth live-action Joker.
There's already been three Jokers within the last decade. Jared Leto, who played the Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad, reprised his role as the Batman villain in 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Two years before that, Joaquin Phoenix played the Joker in the self-contained Joker, which went on to become the highest-grossing R-Rated movie ever and granted Phoenix a Best Actor victory at the Oscars. The Batman, Matt Reeves’ Batman reboot, which will remain separate from the DC Universe, introduced Barry Keoghan as the Joker during the film’s closing minutes. Even if the Joker doesn’t appear in The Brave and the Bold, an established new Batman implies the existence of a new Joker played by a new actor.
DC’s Multiple Joker Actors Reveal A Risky Strategy
The fact that The Batman would introduce a different Batman continuity from the DCEU, which already had Affleck as Batman, was by itself confusing. Still, with Affleck set to exit the Batman role and the DCEU’s future up in the air, it made sense for DC to have a new Batman series. At the same time, Todd Phillips was developing his Joker movie, a character study with no ties to other DC characters. Now, as the original DCEU comes to an end ahead of a new DC Universe, DC will have to introduce a new Joker at some point, which is risky.
The problem with DC’s multiple franchise strategy, that is, having both the DC Universe and the Elseworld movies, is that it risks confusing audiences while also making each version of a character less special. For example, Barry Keoghan’s Joker could appear in The Batman - Part II, right after Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker returns in Folie à Deux and before The Brave and the Bold introduces a different Batman iteration. Comparisons between all different versions of the Joker will be inevitable, with The Brave and the Bold being part of a much broader universe of characters compared to Phillips’ Joker movies or Reeves’ The Batman universe.
