10 Ways Joker's Origin Movie Could Completely Change The DCEU

2. "If I Have A Past, I Prefer It To Be Multiple Choice!"

The Killing Joke Panel
DC Comics

One thing to bear in mind whenever you discuss the Joker's origins is that the man himself has admitted even he doesn't know what the real one is. As he then proclaimed in 1988: "If I have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"

But again, this raises another interesting point regarding this particular film. During his run on Batman, Grant Morrison fully invested in the idea that the Joker is so deranged, so psychotic, that he's able to constantly and sporadically reinvent himself at a moment's notice. It's the best in-house explanation for why the character has changed so frequently over the years - in both appearance and demeanour - and it would work well for the DCEU too. Certainly, if Leto does end up departing the role for good, it would create space for WB to reintegrate the character organically into the series' mainstream continuity.

Not only that, providing that the film shies away from offering a definitive origin, it would further allow directors, writers and actors to put their own spin on the character without necessitating a reboot. For that reason alone it's worth exploring, and, even if the Scorcese-led feature does proceed with the intent of producing an authoritative origin for the clown prince, there's nothing to stop further sequels from following Morrison's lead by shaking the villain up from time to time.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.