Forward of the Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, followers are pondering whether or not the Joker is bisexual, or in any other case queer not directly.
The DC villain’s sexuality has been the subject of long-running hypothesis for years, with many noting that a lot of the character’s historical past is explicitly queer, or queer-coded.
The Joker’s first solo comedian sequence, printed in 1975-6, featured a sequence of moments that followers have at all times believed are rooted in queer identification. One sequence sees the Joker making use of pink lipstick, beautifying himself.
Moreover, Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum: A Critical Home on Critical Earth unused sketches see the Joker in Rocky Horror Present type drag. This comparable type was utilized in Christopher Nolan’s The Darkish Knight the place Heath Ledger’s Joker dons a feminine nurse’s outfit.
Although female stereotypes like attire and lipstick are problematic in the case of defining queerness, the Joker’s aesthetic is only one a part of the puzzle.
The Joker and Batman – are they besties, or relationship?
For starters, the connection between the Joker and Batman isn’t the everyday supervillain-superhero connection. The Joker and Batman appear to tease one another inside their rivalry.
Followers have additionally identified that Batman’s arch-nemesis is a lover of chaos – hiya, main chaotic bisexual power! Whereas the Bat-Sign summons the hero, the Joker is named forth by the potential of mayhem.
In Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Dying Of The Household comedian e-book, the Joker calls Batman “darling,” describes their battles as “dances” and refers to himself as “yours” throughout their interactions.
On Quora, one person shared that although the Joker was obsessive about Batman, he appeared to haven’t any clearly outlined sexuality.
They be aware: “I believe the rationale we’ve by no means actually thought too critically in regards to the Joker’s sexuality earlier than Suicide Squad is as a result of doing so humanises him to some extent. We don’t prefer to suppose that the Joker can have human pursuits. We don’t prefer to imagine that he experiences the identical instinctual pull that the remainder of us do.
“That being mentioned, I do suppose that, if the Joker is portrayed as a sexual particular person, he must be portrayed as he was by (Jared) Leto, as being fluidly bisexual… I’m not an enormous fan of the Jared Leto Joker, however I do suppose that the weird sexual rigidity that he injected into his efficiency was one of many few issues he did proper.”
This particular person’s sentiment is shared by many. A lot so, {that a} now-expired Change.org petition was began by Elena Shestakova which requires DC Leisure to “Make The Joker Homosexual Once more”.
“The Joker is a personality with nearly 80 years [of] historical past, half of which he was portrayed as gay,” Shestakova states, CBR reported.
“Neal Adams claimed that the Joker was and at all times had been gay [..] within the ‘Batman Recordsdata’ e-book. This opinion was shared by different comedian e-book authors and artists for many years. That’s the reason it’s so essential to me and different queer readers to return his homosexuality.
“The Joker repeatedly confessed his emotions to Batman and confirmed an curiosity in different males,” she writes. “Additionally there was Joker’s unnamed boyfriend within the graphic novel Satan’s Advocate.”
Shestakova is just not alone, many followers have ruminated on the Joker’s queer sensibilities.
“Joker is 100% homosexual coded, which is true of practically all iconic villains lol,” one Reddit person posted in a Batman subreddit asking in regards to the Joker’s homosexual subtext.
One other shared: “Other than Joker being flamboyant the person fairly actually lives for Batman. No person else entertains Joker like Batman. I wouldn’t be shocked if Joker was bisexual.”
A number of creators associated to the Joker’s storylines have additionally said their ideas on the character’s queerness.
Within the 2016 point-and-click online game Batman: The Telltale Collection, that includes the Joker, the villain character remarks on the attractiveness of each Bruce Wayne and Harley Quinn.
That model of the Joker was confirmed to be bisexual in a Tumblr put up from former Telltale Video games director, Kent Mudle.
Explaining why his model of the Joker was bisexual, Mudle wrote: “It occurred very naturally. The fundamental concept from the beginning was that John was obsessed/idolized Bruce and Batman, and it form of simply shifted into one thing extra romantic because the season went on.”
Is the Joker transgender?
In case you’re hungry for Joker content material and might’t wait till October, The Folks’s Joker is a queer parody you might want to watch!
Written, directed, edited and starring comic Vera Drew, the 92-minute indie movie is an irreverent reimagining of the Joker’s origin story as a trans super-villain.
The movie has been extensively praised for its emboldened perspective of gender identification that sees this rejected comic type a brand new anti-comedy troupe however come up towards a caped crusader.
The Folks’s Joker has a 96 per cent approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. Of the primary 54 critic evaluations accessible, solely two have been unfavourable.
Additionally, in 2023, DC made the Joker pregnant in a comic book e-book known as Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing.
Within the quick story the Joker has a confrontation with magical being Zatanna – and his choice to flirt massively backfires. Zatanna casts a backwards curse on him: “On eno esle lliw reve evah ruoy ybab!” (“Nobody else will ever have your child!”).
This leads to the Joker waking up pregnant. Watch out who you flirt with, Joker!
What we all know in regards to the Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux
Whether or not the Joker will ever be declared canonically bisexual stays up for debate, however it’s attainable that Joker: Folie à Deux – the sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 movie – might maintain some solutions.
Joaquin Phoenix returns because the titular villain reverse Woman Gaga as Dr Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) for what is ready to be a musical thriller. It actually appears that musical components can be included within the movie because the trailer hints, set to the 1965 music “What the World Wants Now Is Love”.
Joker: Folie à Deux – which is French for “insanity shared by two individuals” – appears as if it would give attention to the difficult bond and legal relationship of Harley Quinn and the Joker.
Additionally, Selection reported the sequel can be a jukebox musical that includes 15 “reinterpretations” of standard songs.
Joker: Folie à Deux can be launched on 4 October 2024.