Will Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker Fight Batman In A Joker 3 Movie?

With Joker: Folie à Deux inching closer to its release, fans have realised that Batman isn’t a part of this Joker’s story. This has raised many questions about whether we will ever get to see Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker facing off against Batman and whether it is even a good idea to make it happen in a Joker 3 movie.

Can He Be Joker Without Batman?

Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck became the Joker through some influence from the Wayne family on his mother, but this turned out to just be a misunderstanding and a momentary “pitstop”, if you will, on his journey to becoming this killer clown, and a symbol of anarchy within Gotham. He exists independently from Batman because Bruce Wayne only lost his parents, which is the experience that caused the series of events that led to him becoming Batman, at the end of the movie. In a way, Joker flipped the script, and Joker inadvertently made Batman, but how does the story go?

Canonically, both Batman and the Penguin had a crucial role in “creating” the Joker. Exactly how he became the Joker in the comics, and his identity before it, is pretty much a mystery – except that the Penguin tipped Batman off about a big criminal operation that was taking place under Falcone, which Batman busted and arrested most of the criminals. However, “one of the lesser goons slips and falls into a vat of boiling green chemicals.” This is inadvertently the series of events that creates his most formidable nemesis, the Joker. With this exciting loop of ‘who creates who’, it’s a conundrum, but if the two movies of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker clearly exist without any influence of Batman, director and writer Todd Phillips has managed to make it happen.

RELATED: Joker 2’s Title Suggests Arthur Fleck Isn’t The Real Joker

Is A Joker 3 Movie With Batman Even A Good Idea?

The short answer is that this Joker exists without the influence of Batman. Because the whole idea is how this Joker came to be because of his own circumstances and impoverished life in Gotham, introducing Batman and having the two fight wouldn’t work for a couple of reasons.

The first of the many reasons is that when the events of Joker took place, Bruce Wayne was just ten years old. Considering that in most versions of DC lore, Bruce only becomes Batman at around 24-26, there will be a 14-16-year wait between the first Joker movie and Joker 3, which is a long time. Arthur Fleck could orchestrate being the Clown of Crime in Gotham. He would be well into his 60s at the time, which isn’t a prime age for fighting a 20-year-old who is fighting crime.

If there was a way to make the timelines make sense, it would not account for the fact that, so far, Arthur Fleck has existed entirely independently from Batman, so it doesn’t make any sense to introduce Batman now.

That being said, this version of Joker isn’t a mastermind or a criminal; he is an ordinary man with a mental illness and disability, dealing with the trauma of his life and his situation in the only way he can. Many argue that Phoenix’s Joker couldn’t fight Batman even if he tried.

Reddit user Monoveloso stated, “Joaquin’s Joker is a sick person with no direction at all. Arthur Fleck wouldn’t be able to plan a simple robbery, let alone mind-battle a detective.”

And we have to agree. This Joker isn’t out there heading a criminal organisation, or at least isn’t yet, but has become a symbol of the anarchy in Gotham. If Batman were to fight anyone, it would be the people Arthur Fleck inadvertently inspired, not Fleck himself.

RELATED: Is The Joker Straight, Gay or Bisexual?

Will Phoenix’s Joker Ever Face Off Against Batman?

Obviously, the chances of Batman and Joker eventually fighting in this “Elseworlds” scenario also rely on a few mechanical elements, like whether the world is happy to see Joker: Folie à Deux and how the movie performs at the box office (which seems like it would perform well), whether or not Todd Phillips would even want to make Joker 3, and whether Joaquin Phoenix would want to make the movie.

Considering that Joaquin Phoenix didn’t even want Thomas Wayne to be a part of Joker and wanted the movie to be an exploration into what could have made Joker a villain in the first place, it seems doubtful that we will ever see his Arthur Fleck facing off against Batman.

According to the comments section on a question about whether or not Joker will ever face off against Batman in this “universe”, Reddit user BatmanNewsChris thinks that it’s more likely that the two will meet again in the future (maybe even at the end of Joker 3), but not as likely that the two will fight.

“I don’t know about a battle… but I wouldn’t be surprised if Phillips puts Batman in Joker 3 in one way or another. Or at least “teases” him being out there.” – BatmanNewsChris

In conclusion, it doesn’t seem likely that we will ever see Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker face off against Batman.

While theories abound about whether or not Joker will ever actually face off with Batman, Joker: Folie à Deux’s latest trailer is now available for viewing on the official Warner Bros. Pictures YouTube channel:

What are your theories on whether or not Joker will ever actually face off against Batman in the Joker 3 movie? Also, read the 10 best Joker quotes that’ll put a smile on your face or find out why Harley Quinn loves Joker so much.