It has been a few weeks, and if you still haven’t watched the Joker movie then you need to open another tab and go book yourself some tickets. Come back once you are done watching it and or be prepared for spoilers.

There is no question that the Joker change comic book cinema the way he changed Gotham. He took the genre and turned it on its head. He changed things, there is no going back after this. Sure my paraphrasing is of a different Joker but it is just as applicable. As with any successful movie, there are talks of a sequel and that is great. But why does the sequel have to be Joker 2.0? What if the sequel was The Batman.

Bat out of Hell

Batman has not had a solo flick for some time now, and that is rather strange for the world’s biggest hero. Matt Reeves will change that come 2021. Having cast Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader, he plans to usher is a new Batman. Yes, the has been a few. Unlike the Bat before, this time we will get a younger Bruce. I suppose he will lean into the Year One canon a lot. This is what we really need right now from our nocturnal knight. A younger more striking Batman. However, this Batman should be the effect, not the cause. To elaborate; Batman has always come first. The villains are the effect of Batman being in Gotham (cause). But I have always thought it should be the other way around. Otherwise old Brucie would be enough. Surely his billions could easily augment the police force of Gotham to take on regular criminals. But super villains? Nope, you need a billionaire playboy who lost his parents to crime at a tender age, for that.

Batman V Joker

Using Joker as the catalyst to springboard into the next Batflick could be the secret ingredient. Firstly there will be no need to re-tell an origin story. Something that has been done every single time. Rather take us straight into Jokers Gotham. Let his movie be an origin story for him and Batman. It just seems like the perfect fit much like them. The movie should pick off right where Joker left off. Arthur getting pinned down in hospital after he killed his therapist. Sitting in his padded cell, watching tv he sees the news and hears of sightings of Batman. This puts a smile on his face. Joker plots his escape while Batman is tackling other villains from his gallery. Joker goes dark, toying with Batman from the shadows in his own mad way. So Batman not only has to take done Penguin and Strange but some mystery “clown” who leaves presents and marks his territory with a smile. That just rough idea. But I hope you get the point.

Will it, Won’t it?

Todd Phillips created a very real Gotham in the way Nolan did. But while Nolan focused on organized crime as his grounding mechanism, Todd switch focus to society and social economics. Both are relevant for their times, but Joker just hits closer to home. It also sets up a very interesting Gotham that seems to have endless tales to tell and tantalizing to explore. More so it has set up a world that can craft out very grounded and modernized variants of beloved characters. I think dark and gritty is where DC shines the brightest, well Batman at least. However, Joker is way older than Bruce in the movie. Sure it could have all been in his head. ( my favorite analogy by the way ) but if it is real then the gap is too large.

Flashpoint

DC’s string of recent successes with their movie means they have options on how to continue their shared universe. It is really tricky for them right now because everything they doing is starting to work. From fun movies like Shazam to the most controversial superhero-based movie. Maybe Flashpoint is the only solution. After all, if everything is working, then merge them all. Or Just get Flash to mess up the timeline.