People loved Joker (2019), but I didn’t. It’s not that the film was poorly made or lacked emotional depth—it’s that it didn’t work as a Joker movie. Had it been titled Sad Clown: The Movie, I would have had no problem with it. But by calling it Joker, it made certain promises that, in my opinion, it didn’t deliver on. It wasn’t a good adaptation from the comics, and in this article, I’ll explain why, especially as we look forward to the sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux.
Joker’s Origin – A Vague History
Joker (2019) tells the story of Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian with a neurological disorder that causes him to laugh uncontrollably. As the movie unfolds, Arthur learns that his life has been a lie, particularly when he discovers that he may not be the biological son of his mother and begins to suspect that Thomas Wayne could be his father.
While this makes for a compelling, emotional journey, it’s way too specific for a Joker origin story. In the comics, the Joker’s origins are famously vague. There are even three distinct Jokers: The Clown, The Criminal, and The Comedian. We still don’t know which of these is the ‘real’ Joker, and that’s the point. Joker’s mystery is part of what makes him terrifying—he has no clear backstory, and therefore no predictable motivation.
Arthur Fleck’s version of Joker doesn’t come from any of these comic depictions. His origin is too neatly packaged, robbing the character of the chaotic ambiguity that defines him.
Sympathy for Arthur Fleck – But Is That Joker?
One of the film’s core objectives is to make Arthur Fleck a sympathetic figure. He’s a victim of a broken system, abandoned by society and his own mental health. The movie paints him as someone trying to survive under harsh conditions. But that’s not Joker.
The true Joker doesn’t commit crimes because society failed him. He doesn’t try to fix the world or protect himself. He commits crimes because he thinks it’s funny. His cruelty is random and purposeless, and that’s what makes him so chilling. Joker isn’t a victim of the system—he creates victims. Arthur Fleck’s Joker is shaped by his environment, which makes him tragic, but that’s not the Joker I know from the comics. The Joker should be a chaotic force, someone who harms without reason, not someone who’s reacting to personal trauma.
You Can’t Have Joker Without Batman
Then there’s the issue of Batman. Can you really make a Joker movie without Batman? In my opinion, no. Joker exists to give Batman a hard time. In one of the comics (Batman: Endgame), after Joker seemingly defeats Batman, he loses his purpose and becomes a functioning member of society, even working at the DMV. Without Batman, Joker has no direction because his existence revolves around tormenting the Dark Knight.
Making a Joker movie without Batman is like making a Venom movie without Spider-Man (which Sony already did, and we all know how that went). Batman is the yin to Joker’s yang—take him out of the equation, and Joker feels incomplete.
My Hot Take on Joker: Folie à Deux
Now, let’s talk about the upcoming sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. There’s a major rumor that Arthur Fleck will be killed in this movie, potentially by someone who could be the “real” Joker. While this hasn’t been confirmed, the reports are widespread enough that many fans are preparing for the possibility.
Naturally, this has upset some fans, who feel like they invested time and emotion into Arthur’s story only for it to be cut short. Their frustration is understandable. But in my opinion, Arthur’s death wouldn’t bother me. That’s because, to me, Arthur Fleck isn’t really the Joker. The title of “Joker” has always been ambiguous, even in the comics. Just like we’ve had multiple Jokers over time, it’s possible that Arthur’s death could pave the way for the ‘real’ Joker to emerge—someone more fitting to the chaotic, purposefully undefined character we know from the comics.
In fact, I like the idea of the title Joker being fluid. It fits with the Joker’s entire identity: always mysterious, always shifting, and never quite what you expect.
