10 Movies That Subverted Expectations (And Fans Hated It)

9. Batman: The Killing Joke

Prometheus EW Cover
Warner Bros.

You can easily make an argument that no comic book character has had as many high quality, legendary stories as Batman. And one of the most famed Bat-tales out there is Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke.

For comic book characters, their movies – be they live-action or animated – always come with certain expectations due to having such strong and notable source material to pull from. After all, if a particular comic book story is being adapted, people have full and total knowledge of how this tale is going to play out.

Where the animated adaptation of The Killing Joke caused outrage amongst Bat-fans is with a subplot that it used in order to pad out the main narrative. 1988’s The Killing Joke is one of the greatest stories in comic book history, yet it isn’t a particular long book.

With that in mind, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation decided to flesh out The Killing Joke by adding a subplot of Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon being romantically involved. Yes, as in the one and the same Barbara who Bruce has been a father figure and mentor to since she was a teenager.

It was creepy, it was distasteful, it was totally unexpected, and it had fans hating a movie that so many had been wanting to see for years.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.