By now, we’ve all heard of the famous fan theory going around about an infamous character of the upcoming film Suicide Squad. If you haven’t, well, let me give you the gist to that buried head of yours: this new version of the Joker is none other than Jason Todd, former Robin who was supposedly killed by the same twisted clown. Basically, Jason got brainwashed by the original Joker and now he thinks he’s him.
It is an interesting theory in its own right, one that got millions of fanboys even more excited for the movie, and even got me wrapped around its spell for a while there. But as time passed and the dust began to settle, my eyes started to see more and more holes in this theory’s boat. Of course, I then decided to make a post about it! Because I like reading mean comments about me posted by angry fanboys, naturally.
In all seriousness though, I will dive into some major spoilers here so be warned. And if you would want to read more about this theory before watching it become a Monet painting, here’s the post that explains it all.
Anyway, let’s begin!
1. Hollywood doesn’t like taking risks
It’s a well-known fact that the big and powerful industry in charge of making major blockbusters just doesn’t like diversity. They like keeping things predictable and full of stereotyped characters because that’s safe and secure and they still make tons of money doing so. And that’s always their endgame – profit. Make no mistake, just because they’re allowing cinematic adaptations of your favourite comic book characters, it doesn’t mean they’re secretly nerds and always wanted to see their childhood heroes on the big screen. It’s because now that type of film is making loads of cash.
So, it’s very unlikely they would allow such a drastic change made to The Joker. I mean, it’s different and probably never been done before, of course they’re not going to make it!
Yes, I do know there are alternate versions of him. Like Martha Wayne, Bruce’s mother, whom after going mad over the loss and trauma of losing her son, becomes the homicidal Joker. (You should definitely read Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance, just saying.) But if it’s not in Batman’s main storyline, then it’s probably not going to get made. It is what it is, I’m afraid.
2. Jared Leto is too old
Some people say that this theory makes sense since this version of The Joker looks really young, too bad the actor is far older than he seems.
Bruce Wayne took Jason Todd in his early years of adolescence, but then he got beaten up with a crowbar by the Joker, he died, Batman felt guilty, some comic-book-science-bullshit happens a few years later and Jason comes back alive!
With that knowledge, let’s assume Jason Todd is now probably in his late twenties, which would make Batman in his late forties. And you know what, Ben Affleck has said he’s playing an older Batman, around 45 or 46 years old. A point for the theory!
However, Jared Leto is also in his forties, in fact, he’s one year older than Affleck.
I know sometimes older actors play younger characters (for example, every actor playing a teenager ever) but a ten year old difference is still pretty farfetched. And from his photos, Joker doesn’t really look like he’s in his twenties either. The youngest I could say is probably early thirties. So, point taken from theory.
3. We already have a fucked up Jason Todd storyline
Yeah, shocker, but a violent and psychotic Jason Todd already exists. He’s called Red Hood.
After the whole coming back alive thing, he becomes slightly more crazy and angry. Meaning, he’s one of those guys that likes to make up his own sense of justice. For example, he kills everyone he deems a criminal (kind of a hypocrite there, but I digress). Also, he blames Batman for his death and letting Joker live, and he has a personal vendetta against Nightwing (Dick Grayson) because of daddy issues.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see Bruce conflicted over his guilt and fatherly feelings for Jason but needing to find a middle line because, as Batman, he can’t just let a maniac on the loose who kills people?
Wait a second. Isn’t that basically the same thing everyone is talking about regarding Jason Todd as the Joker? I guess swapping a name for another does work to make things new!
4. It would change Harley Quinn’s backstory
It’s very obvious from the Suicide Squad trailer that they’ll explore the origins of the mad clown’s obsessive and equally crazy (maybe less so) on-and-off girlfriend. And as any Harley Quinn fan will tell you, she wasn’t always known as one of Gotham’s sirens, but indeed as one of the psychiatrists who worked in Arkham Asylum, Harleen Quinzel.
She was the doctor assigned to Joker, whom she gradually grew infatuated with because of his emotional manipulation. Joker then used Harleen’s obsession to break her down and mould her into the high-pitched maniac Harley Quinn is today. Finally, she broke him out of Arkham and they became a couple running around telling jokes to each other; AKA, killing people and laughing about it.
But if the theory’s right, then it’s not really The Joker who creates Harley, but a broken and brainwashed Robin who thinks he’s The Joker. Not the original Joker… See my problem here?
If that is what they’re going for, Harley Quinn would just feel cheap on the big screen. After all, this is the first cinematic adaption of the character, so why would they change such an important and huge part of her origin in favour of a twist simply made to shock people?
However, if they did the Jason Todd twist after Harley’s transformation, that would be a different story. Just imagine an obsessive Harley who clings to this delusional version of the Joker because admitting he’s never coming back is just too much, and anyone who says the truth to Harley’s face gets their brain smashed with her hammer.
But Hollywood doesn’t like new ideas so keep dreaming.
5. Maybe it’s not even the Robin you think it is
If the leaked photo is to be believed, then it’s not Jason Todd who died, but Dick (Richard) Grayson. And if that’s true, Jason probably doesn’t even exist in this DC Universe, which drowns this theory right off the bat.
You see, everyone is using Joker’s tattoos of a “J” and the wing of a bird to validate this theory, as if the previous versions of him were so sane they would never think of doing something crazy like getting a tattoo (Joker is psychotic, getting a tattoo wouldn’t be that big of a deal to him).
But if Dick Grayson is the one “officially” dead, why can’t he be The Joker? And if so, maybe he’s the one who killed Jason and wears the “J” tattoo like a badge of honour. Or maybe it’s neither of them and it turns out it was Tim Drake all along. Perhaps it’s even Bruce’s violent son, Damian. Or Barbara Gordon got a sex change. Who knows? I sure don’t!
And here’s the thing, even though I’ve explained all my reasons for not finding this theory credible, the truth still stands: we know basically nothing about this new Joker.
We’ve seen what he looks like and what a great villainous laugh Jared Leto can pull off, but besides that this version of the character is still surrounded in mystery. Besides the “normal” amount of mayhem and chaos that the Joker likes to create and laugh about, we’re not sure what his motives really are in Suicide Squad, or if he’ll even be mentioned in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. We’re all in the dark, which makes things pretty interesting.
It’s exciting to guess what kind of Joker Jared Leto is going to be. Although I may not agree with this theory, it sure kept a lot of conversations going, something to dig deep in the geeky discussions with your friends. I have to give it at least that amount of credit.
Will I be surprised if this theory turns out to be true? Absolutely. Will I turn to social media to express anger and disgust over the “atrocity” done to the character? Eh, probably not. After all, it’s just a movie, and we fans still have our comic books.
Maybe I’ll even surprise myself and end up loving this new version of Jason Todd – if the writers don’t fuck this up, that is.
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