No matter how chaotic things may appear to be, The Joker is always a man with a plan which is why some refer to him as an “agent of chaos” who always keeps Batman on his toes.
Batman is one of the oldest and most popular comic book characters ever since the Caped Crusader made his debut in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. It wasn't long after in 1940, that Joker made his debut in Batman #1 and since that time, the duo have shared a bond on opposite sides of the law (well, mostly).
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Since those early years, we’ve seen countless iterations of Batman and the Clown Prince, and for some, the most popular versions are from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movie trilogy, and arguably the best that trilogy has to offer is 2008s, The Dark Knight.
“With the help of allies, Lt. Jim Gordon and DA Harvey Dent, Batman (Christian Bale), have been able to keep a tight lid on crime in Gotham City,” reads the synopsis of The Dark Knight.
“But when a vile young criminal calling himself the Joker (Heath Ledger) suddenly throws the town into chaos, the caped Crusader begins to tread a fine line between heroism and vigilantism.”
I am about to go into spoilers for The Dark Knight below, so consider this as your final spoiler warning.
There’s a point in The Dark Knight when Joker threatens Batman to reveal his identity otherwise he’ll kill at least one person for every day that he doesn't. It’s perhaps assumed by some that Joker doesn't know Batman’s true identity (Bruce Wayne) and the burning desire to know has compelled him to cause chaos in Gotham City.
However, others suspect, such as Reddit user gdan95 that Joker knew Batman’s identity all along and was basically toying with the Caped Crusader.
During an integration scene, Joker tells Batman “I don't want to kill you. What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, you complete me.” This perhaps hints that Joker never really wanted Batman to reveal all.
At any point, if Joker knew Batman’s identity he could have revealed it but instead chose to toy with Gotham’s hero to watch the lengths he will go to keep his secret under wraps and protect those who he loves.
That being said, if Batman revealed his identity, while Joker would miss toying with him, he would also enjoy seeing the panic on the residents of Gotham City and watching fellow villains go after Bruce Wayne.
I won't spoil anything else because if you’ve never watched The Dark Knight trilogy, you really should add it to your list, especially to admire the performance of the late, great Heath Ledger.
Topics: Warner Bros, TV And Film, Comics, DC, DC Comics, Batman