13 Biggest Mistakes The Batman Movies Ever Made

13. Batman - The Joker's Backstory

Although Jack Nicholson is unquestionably one of the finest screen actors of all time, he long presented a bit of a problem for filmmakers. So larger than life is his persona, Nicholson spent the bulk of his career playing roles which were essentially variations on himself.

This was a particular issue when it came to him playing iconic villain The Joker in 1989's Batman. Not only was Nicholson a considerably bigger star than the actor in the title role, Michael Keaton, he was also over a decade older; and, unlike Robert Downey Jr and his younger co-stars in The Avengers, this age gap was readily apparent.

As such, someone got the bright idea that The Joker could have, in his younger days as a criminal, been the one who murdered Bruce Wayne's parents when the future Batman was a child. Hand-in-hand with this came an all-new backstory for The Joker as a Gotham mafioso named Jack Napier (again, how much closer could they get to the man himself?).

It can certainly be argued that this worked dramatically within the context of the film itself, but it's a far cry from The Joker of the comics, whose true identity was generally shrouded in mystery (The Killing Joke notwithstanding). Also, as The Joker's ultimate death might give Bruce Wayne some closure over his parents' murder, it feels like it defeats the object somewhat.

Happily, these were both problems that the Dark Knight movies would fare better with.