Does Joker 2 Present The Origin Of Heath Ledger’s Joker From The Darkish Knight?

Warning: This story incorporates main spoilers for “Joker: Folie à Deux,” so proceed with warning.

Due to the lengthy historical past of comedian guide characters, there are sometimes many fan theories circulating about any given comedian guide film, particularly after the primary trailer has been unveiled. Followers choose up on essentially the most minute particulars, utilizing them to gasoline predictions about the place the plot is headed or which characters are ready within the wings to be revealed. Generally they’re proper on the cash, because of a wealthy background of particulars to drag from Marvel, DC Comics, and so on. However for each fan idea that is proper, there are dozens which might be simply plain ridiculous and pointless. It ought to come as no shock that “Joker: Folie à Deux” has impressed loads of fan theories main as much as its launch, however there’s one fan idea that has solely simply emerged with the discharge of the film. The stunning ending of Arthur Fleck’s story has impressed a ludicrously assumed connection to a beloved Batman film.

On the very finish of “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Arthur has been rejected by Lee (Woman Gaga). After he admits that Joker does not exist and that he dedicated the murders of the primary film of his personal cognizance, Lee leaves the courtroom, and he or she’s not interested by working away with Arthur. She tells him this after they reunite on the stairs in his previous neighborhood the place Arthur famously danced within the first movie. Arthur is apprehended by the cops and despatched again to jail. 

With all the joy of the trial accomplished, Arthur is again to regular days in Arkham. However when he is instructed there is a customer ready for him, a random inmate stops to inform him a joke. It is a lengthy lead-in to the inmate delivering the identical “You get what you f***ing deserve” punchline from the primary “Joker,” earlier than the inmate stabs Arthur within the intestine roughly a dozen occasions, leaving him to bleed out and die on the ground. Because the digital camera focuses on Arthur collapsing and dying, you may see the inmate laughing within the background and carving a smile into his face with the knife. 

For some cause, some followers have taken this to indicate that this inmate would go on to turn into Heath Ledger’s model of Joker in “The Darkish Knight.” Not solely is that this fully unfounded and determined to present some form of which means to a hole ending that has zero substance, however the timeline merely does not match up with the occasions of “Joker,” and it might break probably the greatest components of Christopher Nolan’s model of the villain. 

Earlier than we get to the ending of “Joker: Folie à Deux,” let’s speak about one other piece of this “Darkish Knight” puzzle. Within the third act, there is a huge explosion exterior of the courtroom the place Arthur’s trial is happening. It blasts an enormous gap within the wall and sends particles in every single place. As Arthur slowly wakes up after being knocked out and makes his method out of the courtroom to flee, we see Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), nonetheless in shock after the blast however propped up in opposition to the wall between the attorneys and people attending the trial. The left aspect of his face is scratched up and bloodied, presumably resulting in his inevitable flip to Two-Face that all the time occurs to the character in some unspecified time in the future within the Batman universe. If you wish to interpret that as a tribute to “The Darkish Knight,” go forward. However Harvey Dent all the time has his face broken one way or the other, and that is merely an allusion to that character’s presumed future.

Now, let’s circle again round to the ending of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Many are assuming that as a result of the “Younger Inmate” character performed by Connor Storie carves a smile into his face that he is supposed to turn into Heath Ledger’s Joker, who famously had distinguished scars on his face. Moreover, they’re taking his actions to imagine that this random inmate is who will really turn into the actual Joker, who was impressed by Arthur Fleck’s actions to turn into the villain that Arthur by no means actually was. However that does not really feel proper both. Initially, as we simply established, that second with Harvey Dent above would appear to indicate that the lawyer has gained the very traits that can see him turn into Two-Face, which does not line up with “The Darkish Knight” in any respect. Apart from that, there is a significantly better cause as to why this idea is foolish.

“The Darkish Knight” by no means really revealed the place Joker’s scars got here from, with the villain telling a number of totally different tales about their origins. To imagine that that is the origin story of the Joker takes away probably the greatest traits of Heath Ledger’s Joker. Not figuring out the place he obtained these scars is a part of what makes him terrifying. Not figuring out why he is creating anarchy in Gotham Metropolis is what makes him so threatening. The truth that he has a special story to inform about their origin, and we do not actually know what’s driving him, makes him that rather more unhinged and unpredictable. To imagine that he gave himself these scars after killing Arthur Fleck can be a disservice to Heath Ledger’s magnificent model of Joker.

Moreover, the logistics of the timeline do not even match up. “Joker” was confirmed to happen in 1981, and “Folie à Deux” takes place a yr later. Meaning, by the point “The Darkish Knight” rolls round in 2008, it is 27 years later. That younger inmate on the finish of the film is not a teen, and he appears to be like like he is in his early twenties. So in “The Darkish Knight,” meaning Joker can be virtually 50 years previous. Heath Ledger was 28 years previous at the moment. So this simply does not make any sense in any respect.

If you wish to assume that the carving of the scars into that younger inmate’s face is supposed to be a tribute to Heath Ledger’s Joker, you are free to try this. Nonetheless, taking that assumption and following it to the conclusion that the character is definitely Heath Ledger’s Joker is simply plain dumb. Actually, I would not even go as far as to imagine that this character turns into the actual Joker in Todd Phillips’ model of Gotham Metropolis. The ending is simply meant to indicate that there is all the time going to be a madman who takes on the mantle of somebody like Joker. Maybe the largest joke in Todd Phillips’ “Joker” films is that there isn’t any actual Joker in any respect.