Here’s Why The Joker Should Be The Main Villain In The Batman 2!

Divesh Solanki
August 23, 2022

It’s possible that The Batman 2’s use of the Joker breaks an unwritten superhero movie rule. Although the number of movies in the series hasn’t been announced, it’s safe to say that The Batman’s finale sets up a sequel that could easily lead to a third movie, if not even generate its own complete franchise, should the studio and creative team decide to create it. This would be consistent with the normal trend for superhero movies because, should the first movie be a hit, it is typical for a series to be turned into a trilogy.

The Batman 2 is positioned in a way that strongly suggests it will succeed, in addition to The Batman’s box office success and positive reviews. The excitement surrounding the debut of Barry Keoghan’s Joker may have increased interest in this sequel because it introduces a new iteration of one of pop culture’s most recognisable supervillains. The Batman 2’s plot, though, would actually profit more from the Joker taking a backseat, and there are some indications that this may be the sequel’s strategy.

Should The Batman 2 had a sequel, it would be challenging to top the impact of the Clown Prince of Crime serving as the major enemy. The Joker is such a defining Batman villain. As a result, even while the Joker might be the main nemesis of The Batman 2, it’s also very likely that the film will use him to motivate the other villains of Gotham to confront the Dark Knight. This would break a common rule in superhero movies, which is the trend of the villain introduced in mysterious cameo form in superhero films being the main villain of the follow-up film, or the “big bad” behind everything in the first film onwards. It would also fit with how the ending of The Batman showed him recruiting the Riddler. The Batman avoided a part of this cliché by not letting Joker be the cause of Riddler’s initial wicked deeds. The Joker would have more time to plan schemes and create mayhem that works against the Dark Knight if he avoided doing so in The Batman 2 as well. This would give his major moments later in the franchise the build-up they merit while demonstrating that Joker isn’t the root of all of Gotham’s problems.

Why The Joker Should Be The Main Villain In The Batman 2

After all, the Riddler has just successfully destroyed the majority of Gotham, so it makes sense for the Joker’s grand plan to be saved for the trilogy’s climactic conclusion. After all, whatever scheme he may have up his sleeve would probably be less impressive when used against a city that has already been partially destroyed. The Joker would be established as the most significant series villain, allowing him to establish himself as Batman’s true nemesis while not necessarily implying that he is entirely responsible for every adversary Batman faces, if The Batman sequel set up a variety of villains through the careful hands of the Joker.

Although the Joker is deservedly regarded as the archetypal Batman villain, some viewers have grown a little tired of him. Since he is such a prominent DC supervillain, it is nearly certain that he will be introduced in the majority of DC films and television programmes. However, this emphasis on him in recent years has led some to lose interest in the character. The easiest approach to overcome this, and ensure that the supervillain has an even longer run overall on the big screen, is to give Barry Keoghan’s Joker time in The Batman 2 to develop the character in a subtle way that doesn’t take the spotlight from other Batman adversaries that could be introduced.