Pattinson's Batman vs Phoenix's Joker: Yes or No?

[Vakanai]

Now of course this is all hypothetical, but ever since the movie JOKER broke a billion there's been rumors of a sequel, and Phillips and Phoenix aren't exactly against the idea. And now there's The Batman. Even long before yesterday's trailer got the movie trending people have suggested that these two takes on Batman and Joker should crossover, and now after The Batman trailer I'm reading that wish even more.

Of course there's the other possibility, that if there are any JOKER sequels (and that's a big IF) they'll cast and develop their own Batman. And The Batman trilogy will have it's own Joker.

There's advantages to both. The JOKER movie is an award winning critical darling popular billion dollar phenomenon, and the hype for The Batman is already palpable. A crossover would get people interested. On the other hand, if the two takes are kept secret, you will get a lot of people curious how The Batman's Joker compares to JOKER's Joker and how JOKER's Batman compares to The Batman's Batman. From a marketing strategy standpoint both are enticing ideas.

So for fun and debate, let's say that Phoenix's Joker does return to take on Batman, and Pattinson's Batman goes up against the Joker in his trilogy, should the two crossover to face off, or should they each stay separate and get their own respective versions of their archnemesis?

[TriggerWarning]

No. Joker was clearly set in the 1970's. Batman looks to be set in current time.

In concept it would be cool but it just doesn't work since Phoenix's Joker was obviously a man in his 40's which means he would be pushing 80 now. I don't want to see geriatric Joker.

Maybe if the follow the three Joker thing DC seems to be doing in the comics but otherwise no.

[titanfan]

Phoenix's Joker just doesn't seem very competent or a criminal mastermind--he was mentally ill and I can't suddenly see him becoming a criminal mastermind. A universe where Phoenix's Joker exists, has to have a Batman whose not very good and I don't think I want to see that.

[Zero Hunter]

Phoenix Joker is just a mentally ill man and not really the Joker. You could have taken the name Joker off that movie and just called in Crazy Clown and it would have been the same movie.

[SiegePerilous02]

Yeah, criminal mastermind Phoenix's Joker was not. This version of the Riddler already seems like he could run circles around him.

JOKER was a great experimental one shot, but I'd say leave it alone. It'd rather see Reeves be able to put his own stamp on the Joker without being beholden to someone else.

[Jim Kelly]

It would work out perfectly if they were in the same timeline, because JOKER was set in the early 1980s. So, if THE BATMAN is about twenty years later, that puts it in the early 2000s. Arthur is A Joker--the movie is called JOKER not THE JOKER. He influences other people in Gotham to wear the Joker mask. So the thugs we see in THE BATMAN teaser would be following an established tradition among gangs in Gotham. That leaves the door open for another mystery man to become the Joker.

But I don't think Warner Bros. will tie the two movies together--because it restrains what Matt Reeves can do with his movies--and for that matter what Todd Phillips would do if he ever made more pictures.

[AnakinFlair]

My first thought is no. But while I wouldn't want to see them go at it, I wouldn't be against whatever Joker Pattinson goes up against being inspired by Phoenix's Joker. Like, that Joker did happen in the same universe, but in the past. And the new one is carrying on the legacy.

[Farealmer]

Phoenix Joker is just a mentally ill man and not really the Joker. You could have taken the name Joker off that movie and just called in Crazy Clown and it would have been the same movie.

This, I wouldn't even want a Batman in Joker as it wouldn't really make much sense given the age difference. I wouldn't even think a sequel would do the movie favors considering it would clash with the tone of the first movie. I get people liked it but at the end of the day it was a movie about a man going crazy that had the DC trappings tacked on. The people involved should move on and realize not everything needs a sequel.

[batnbreakfast]

If Battinson would take on Phoenix and they would manage to make the age gap work (Joker never was much of a physical threat) it would chip away at both movies. The Batman can explore new corners of Gotham and highlight new Rogues. No Joker at all from Reeves and I'd be fine but it seems those gang members in the trailer are a prototype of the Red Hood Gang and Mr.J grows from there

[Steel Inquisitor]

That'd be a short film, Phoenix wouldn't know what hit him.

[Jim Kelly]

From what we see in the trailer, THE BATMAN and JOKER seem to be the closest in tone, of all the franchise movies. They both seem to have Thomas Wayne and the Wayne family as corrupt, questionable characters, with an involved back story. And they both have influences from the same 1970s and 1980s movies. So I can see why people would view them as being in the same ball park.

[Castle]

No. Keep them separate. I like to see Batman's universe get more enriched.

[bat39]

While I can imagine the Gotham City of Joker becoming the Gotham City of The Batman 40 years down the line, I don't really think these two takes should be brought together. Joker works best in its own self-contained universe...and I'm frankly not crazy about the idea of doing a sequel to that movie unless they have something really good.

It just isn't worth the mental gymnastics they'd have to go through to get these two versions face to face. The Bruce Wayne from Joker would be pushing 50 now...Pattison's Bruce is supposed to be 30. So on the strength of the chronology alone it doesn't work.

That said, I wouldn't mind if, when they introduce Joker in the Matt Reeves' movies, they hint at this idea of the Joker having been around in some form for most of Gotham's history, an idea from the Scott Snyder run. Maybe hint at the Joker being a failed comedian who once shot a man on live television, or who killed his mom in a hospital. A few subtle hints and nods to Pheonix's Joker (as well as Ledger's and Nicholson's) - all in service of the "multiple choice past".

[Blind Wedjat]

Nope. Let DC embrace their multiverse idea.

[Gaius]

I'd rather not be reminded of Joker so hard pass.