Film Theory: Was The Dark Knight's Joker Actually A SPY?!

4. Intelligence On Gotham's Hierarchy And Leadership

For someone without a plan, the Joker knows an awful lot about the "schemes" of the "schemers" that he blames Harvey Dent's downfall on. He knows all about the criminal networks of Gotham - in intimate detail - and he knows about the rampant corruption in the police force and government. That's not the kind of information that just falls into your lap.

It's far more likely that he spent the time before he popped up in Gotham - seemingly out of nowhere - discovering as much as he could. He accessed criminal databases (how else would he have found Melvin White?), he has to have monitored dirty cops and officials (going deeper than Batman and Harvey Dent seemed capable, given his ease) and he put all of his chess pieces in place. His appearance in Gotham was very much the final part of a long-gestating plan.

And without a network, the only explanation possible is that he was trained in surveillance and information extraction. In other words, he was a spy.

The key question is: does he know Bruce Wayne is Batman? There are certainly hints: as in him cheekily asking Batman if Harvey knows about him and "his little bunny", and while he protects Batman's secret identity, that's not really what the exchange is about.

Crucially, the Joker doesn't CARE about who Wayne is beneath the cowl, because it corrupts his idea of the Joker/Batman dynamic. But you should never doubt for a moment that he knows the truth by the time they come face-to-face. And that suggests that he's done what most of Batman's enemies (and lots who've been WAY more motivated to do so) have managed: he found out Wayne's identity.

That's no small achievement, especially for a "dog chasing cars."