12 Biggest Missed Opportunities In Comic Book Movie History

9. Killing The Joker In Tim Burton's Batman

There are several obvious motifs that make the Joker so iconic and recognisable but beyond those that any school kid could tell you there are those tropes familiar to comic fans alone, which are equally integral to the character. One of his most defining narrative characteristics, which he admittedly shares with one or two other villainous types, is that even when it looks like he€™s been killed, it is always left open that he may have survived. An integral part of the Batman milieu Arkham Asylum was even created to serve this very consideration. Given this, it makes you wonder how the production team behind 1989€™s Batman arrived at the idea of having him fall to his death from an unfeasibly great height, and end on a close up of his lifeless and shattered body. Granted this was at a time when the potential for franchising comic characters and ongoing cinematic continuity wasn't as valued and understood as it is now but what this story choice did is open up a Batman universe with a huge void where his main antagonist should be. Like Heath Ledger€™s version of the character it would have been acceptable for Jack Nicholson€™s Joker not to reappear in the series but having the idea that he was still out there somewhere (or locked away in Arkham) would have been more in-keeping with the Batman comic universe, and added greater sense of completeness to the cinematic version.