Bruce Wayne created Batman to be a symbol but the role of the Dark Knight but the cape and cowl eventually come back to Wayne.
Is the Joker closer to being what Bruce intended for his alter ego?
I’ve been thinking about this after watching The Last Laugh, this week’s theory shattering episode of Gotham.
Azrael, Dick Grayson and now Jim Gordon have been the Batman but it’s always back to Bruce.
But think of how many versions of the Joker we’ve seen and accepted?
Is Batman’s ultimate enemy a troubled kid, a failed comedian, a hoodlum named Jack Napier, a madman who craves chaos or an immortal evil that takes the form of a horrific clown prince of crime.
Can any man become the Joker?
SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read this week’s Gotham episode stop reading now.
Seriously.
Here it comes.
No Joke!
Cameron Monaghan’s mad performance as Jerome Valeska on Gotham channeled Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and even a touch of Cesar Romero’s portrayals of Joker while make it all his own. After all the teasing and blatant references, Valeska’s criminal career was cut short…literally by Theo Galavan’s knife.
Valeska may not become the Joker of Gotham but as we saw in the chilling final scenes, the death of the insane killer inspired an army of laughing madmen who may become the Joker.
The episode is a frightening chapter in the mythology of Batman’s greatest villain and reinforces the idea that anyone could be on the verge of becoming a madman.
We may have seen Monaghan’s last laugh. From Romero’s comic cackle to Nicholson’s “Dance in the Pale Moonlight” to Ledger’s Oscar winning agent of chaos to the eagerly awaited turn by Jared Leto in Suicide Squad, the Joker is the immortal evil everyman.
Which version of the Joker is your favorite?
By Editor