Batman V Superman: 12 Biggest Questions It Leaves Unanswered

6. If Batman Kills People, Why Is The Joker Still Alive?

The Question: If we accept, whether we like it or not, that Batman kills criminals in this universe's depiction of the character, then why the hell would he leave The Joker alive for so long rather than just do the world a favour and take him out? Hell, why not just start assassinating the whole rogues gallery? The Likely Answer: A theory has been doing the rounds online for months that is too delicious not to be true (unless Snyder and co. have really dropped the ball here). Basically, the idea posits that The Joker from Suicide Squad is actually Robin aka Jason Todd, who was tortured to the brink of insanity by the original Joker, who ended up getting killed by Batman. Jason Todd, now psychotic, becomes the new Joker, and because Batman still feels a sense of kinship towards his former partner, he cannot bring himself to kill him, but merely attempt to bring him to justice. Hence that line early on in the movie, "How many good people are there? How many stay that way?" Though Ben Affleck's and Jared Leto's ages require a bit of fudging (as Todd is meant to be several decades younger than Wayne), most would probably agree that Leto looks around a decade younger than Affleck anyway, so it's not much of a stretch. And if they aren't going this route, well, then they really have to explain why The Joker isn't in the morgue beyond "because plot".