Would you let a Killing Joke movie go through (and what would you change)?

[RubberLotus]

A friend and I were discussing The Killing Joke a while ago, and I found that we were both against the idea of The Killing Joke being adapted for the small screen (or the big, for that matter). His reasoning boiled down to "The Dark Knight adapted every part of TKJ worth adapting", while mines were a bit more scattershot (the current DC Animated Original Movie crop's anime-like "house style" would completely butcher Brian Bolland's art; it's a bit too short for a 75-minute movie; the adapter/executives would no doubt feel obligated to shoehorn in new lines for the characters; and, shallowest of all - I'm terrified that they'll change Penguin's cameo from a jail cell to the Iceberg Lounge, or worse, snip it out altogether).

But I figure that our opinions are kinda in the minority. Even the return of Barbara-as-Batgirl in the New 52 hasn't booted TKJ out of continuity, and no less than Mark Hamill has voiced his support for it, so it might just be a matter of time before The Killing Joke: The Movie comes to a Netflix near you. That said... would you want such a thing to happen? And if you do, what inevitable changes would you want the filmmakers to make to the comic?

[nepenthes]

I'd absolutely incorporate TJK as flashbacks in a Black Mirror adaption.

But with the way DC are doing their latest toons, they'd probably also have Joker running around in overalls with his face off.

[MykeHavoc]

I have long suggested a Killing Joke/Arkham Asylum double animated feature. Both books are short, but combined, could easily fill a 75 minute film. I'm not sure if we'll be seeing any classic books adapted anymore, as it seems they are focused on doing New 52 stuff. My guess is Forever Evil will be next (though the teaser at the end of Thrones of Atlantis is a bit vague).

[Godlike13]

Id drop the taking naked pictures of Babs bit.

[twiztor]

i think it would work best as the centerpiece of a Batman short films collection. take some of the best single issue or short storyline stories and turn four or five into short animated films. each can use a different style of animation or what have you.

as long as TKJ is done in closely the same style as the animated series/mask of the phantasm, and with conroy/hamill, you couldn't go wrong.

[RubberLotus]

I have long suggested a Killing Joke/Arkham Asylum double animated feature. Both books are short, but combined, could easily fill a 75 minute film. I'm not sure if we'll be seeing any classic books adapted anymore, as it seems they are focused on doing New 52 stuff. My guess is Forever Evil will be next (though the teaser at the end of Thrones of Atlantis is a bit vague).

Hum. Arkham Asylum is probably my favorite out of Morrison's Batman comics, but I figure it's even harder to adapt than TKJ (which at least has a well-defined plot and characters). I've always found Arkham to be a book based around sensation and symbolism, with only the barest thread of a plot to move Batman from one meticulously-designed horrorshow to the next. Could it stand up when the reader doesn't have the luxury of stopping to digest and ponder over every scene?

Plus, I figure that the DCAOU's house style would butcher Dave McKean's art even worse than it would Bolland's.

[K. Jones]

It's not exactly a standalone tale, that's for sure. While TKJ essentially uses the standing (and well known) trio of Batman, Jim and Joker, you've also got to establish Babs ... possibly that Babs was Batgirl for years already ... and establish Arkham Asylum.

But otherwise it's actually just a pretty small, intimate tale. Joker. Handful of henchmen. Carnival. Arkham. No other real locations. It's not really "blockbuster movie". TV series finale, sure, but "blockbuster movie"? Phew.

[RubberLotus]

It's not exactly a standalone tale, that's for sure. While TKJ essentially uses the standing (and well known) trio of Batman, Jim and Joker, you've also got to establish Babs ... possibly that Babs was Batgirl for years already ... and establish Arkham Asylum.

But otherwise it's actually just a pretty small, intimate tale. Joker. Handful of henchmen. Carnival. Arkham. No other real locations. It's not really "blockbuster movie". TV series finale, sure, but "blockbuster movie"? Phew.

Babs might need some establishing, but Arkham's had a massive video game empire based around it in recent years, and even before that I'd say it was relatively well-known. I think you could drop the place into any movie without much explanation.

And yes, the intimacy of TKJ is part of why I love it so much. That's another concern I have about adapting it into a movie - what if the adapters miss the point (again) and have the Joker be more hypercompetent and supervillain-y, like, I dunno, killing a bunch of civilians when he delivers the carnival tickets to Batman or something?

[BatfanReborn]

Combine it with Death in the Family. Also, prologue it with the Cormorant storyline (Tec 491-2) and, maybe Jason Todd's origin. TKJ starts getting a bit lost in here so I guess I don't think it could make a full movie by itself.

[rhymeswithparc]

I don't think it really should be adapted in that I have no need to see that story play out on screen as it is. If they want to tell the story of the Joker torturing Jim as he did TKJ, that might be interesting as a film. Essentially, I think the end would need to change; if a film were made, Batman and the Joker shouldn't be standing laughing in the rain as the credits roll.

[Vakanai]

Eh, say what you will about their New52 stuff, they did good only a few years ago with Year One and The Dark Knight Returns. If they bring their A game like they did with those stories, it'll work just fine.

[Fuzzy Cactus]

I'd absolutely incorporate TJK as flashbacks in a Black Mirror adaption.

I'm afraid that a Black Mirror adaptation would put Bruce in the cowl instead of Dick, and thus miss the point of Black Mirror.

[quinnzel]

I wouldn't be opposed to TKJ done as a movie as long as it's done well. That's the difficult part. And I think there'd be a lot of challenges to making a movie based off the story that would be done well. As it's been said already, TDK did a great job of incorporating a lot of big parts from the story but it didn't stick strictly to the story. DC's animated adaptations of classic Batman stories like Year One have been amazing, so I think I'd go for an animated adaptation, but again, I'm not sure how it would be able to be done in the best way. TKJ is an extremely dark story, like a lot of Batman stories are, but I think it would be tricky to do.

[ultimate jezebel]

But would Alan Moore give it his blessing?

Might be interesting to see how that affects publicity if the project was really adopted.

[RubberLotus]

But would Alan Moore give it his blessing?

Might be interesting to see how that affects publicity if the project was really adopted.

... you're not serious, right?

Alan Moore was calling this book overrated back when he actually had a modicum of faith in Hollywood and DC Comics. Now? If we're lucky, he'd just roll his eyes and ignore the news.