Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder revealed more secrets about the Absolute Joker.
Absolute Joker is Like Evil Mainstream Bruce Wayne
At a panel at Dragon Con, Snyder talked about how this new version of the Joker will continue to be Batman’s dark reflection. However, since the Absolute version of Bruce Wayne is not a rich billionaire-but instead a middle class guy with limited resources-the Joker will be like an evil version of the mainstream universe Bruce Wayne. So instead of main universe Wayne being a philanthropist, the Absolute Joker will use his money to proliferate crime so he can reap the financial rewards.
“The Joker to me is always the opposite of Batman. So if Absolute Batman is this thing, Joker would become a billionaire with all the resources, who is telling Bruce, ‘Well, you’re not going to become anything,’ and then it becomes, who would he put in Batman’s way? Well, Joker plays both sides, so he creates crime and creates the means to stop crime. He’s always playing us, and the Joker issue explains what a clown is and why the Joker loves them… If Bruce is Joker now, and he is chaos and he is disruption, then Joker is the system and order. That means Joker would have a Batcave, he would have a mansion, he would be handsome, and be a socialite. Maybe he has Robins!”
Ages-Old Evil
Snyder then teased how the Joker maybe a really old villain who has been doing dirty dealings for centuries.
“It starts with someone you think is Joker’s great great grandfather in the early 1800s who is a clown on the streets of Gotham. It keeps revisiting this idea of who this clown was and what did he do, getting darker and darker. It asks, ‘What is a clown?’ ‘What does he love about clowns?’ It starts with, Oh he loves clowns because they’re funny and they make us laugh and then it goes to, ‘Maybe he loves clowns because they mock us.’ They’re a pantomime of our own buffoonery. In mythology, a clown is the only one who survives everything and laughs at us as we die.”
Meanwhile, Snyder and DC has released more variant covers of featuring the new look of the Joker. Fans get the best look at the Joker’s demon dragon-form yet.
His face is the most insane part of him. It looks like he has teeth upon teeth, similar to a shark. How does this all relate to the Joker’s human form appearances in Absolute Batman and Absolute Evil? It’s unclear yet. But we’re looking forward to Batman and Joker’s first meeting in Absolute Batman #15!