Evidence has come to light that Jared Leto’s Joker was once a completely different comic book character.
[dropcap size=small]H[/dropcap]eath Ledger’s Joker is an impossible act to follow. Everyone from Zack Snyder down knows it. Now, there’s a rumor floating around that Jared Leto’s Joker isn’t what he seems, and it would mean that he wouldn’t be following Heath Ledger at all. In fact, he’d be playing a whole different character.
Warning! The following theory could potentially be a MAJOR SPOILER. Or it could be made up entirely. So, you know, whatever.
The rumor, concocted by Reddit user DeathbyRequest, is laid out plain as day in the photo below.
Right?
Look at the shoulders. Do the Joker and the worn Robin suit have matching shoulder injuries..?
It’s clear that the Joker and Robin have some sort of history in the upcoming DC films. The shot of the Robin suit from the Batman v Superman trailer will be all too familiar to those who know their Batman comics. In Jim Starlin’s A Death in the Family, the Joker leaves the suit in the Batcave after he brutally murders Jason Todd (the second Robin), and Jason’s death sends Bruce Wayne spiralling down a path of darkness and isolation and probably bats. He is likely already halfway down that path when we meet him in Batman v Superman.
What’s interesting is that Jason’s successor, Tim Drake, has also suffered at the Joker’s hands. Drake, the primary Robin in the DC Animated Universe, was tortured by the Joker in a successful attempt to turn him into his criminal sidekick. Now, what if both Jason Todd and Tim Drake’s storylines were combined in this world? What if Robin was tortured into insanity by Batman’s failure to save the previous Robin from the original Joker? What if Jared Leto’s Joker is Jason Todd?
The shoulder injuries are one thing, but let’s look more closely at Jared Leto’s tattoos. On his cheek is marked the letter ‘J’. This could just stand for ‘Joker’, but maybe he got those tattoos not for himself, but for Batman. The ‘J’ could easily stand for Jason, a reminder of Batman’s carelessness in letting the original Joker go, and not being able to protect Jason. The Joker will go to any lengths to mess with Batman, so a permanent reminder of his failure is almost tame. Even more conclusive is the tattoo on the right, which clearly shows the feathers of a bird – surely a Robin?
In the comics, before the Joker ever became the Joker, he was tricked into becoming small time criminal Red Hood. When Jason Todd returns to the comics even after his brutal death (because comics), he takes up the mantle of Red Hood. Jason has a history of taking the Joker’s identity, and there’s no reason he wouldn’t again, especially with Zack Snyder, comic book aficionado and super dark guy, running things.
The last pieces of evidence come from the trailer, when Bruce Wayne asks Alfred, ’20 years in Gotham – how many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?’, while Alfred himself can be heard saying, ‘That’s how it starts. The fever, the rage, that turns good men… cruel,’ just as the below image, which is right out of A Death in the Family, flashes on screen.
From the suit, to the tattoos to the dialogue in the trailer, everywhere you look, something is connecting Jason Todd to the Joker. Sure, it could all be a coincidence; ‘you let your family die’ could be a reference to Batman’s parents, and the tattoos might have been a drunken high school idea that turned relevant, but until Zack Snyder tells me otherwise, Jared Leto’s Joker used to be Robin.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opens on March 25th, 2016. Suicide Squad hits theaters August 5th, 2016.
