It’s just not a good time to be a clown in Gotham these days. Writer Tom King has stated in a recent interview discussing the upcoming Batman/Catwoman series with his frequent collaborator Clay Mann that Batman’s iconic nemesis the Joker will die in the series, which will take place within three different periods of time in the Dark Knight and Catwoman’s lives together.
In the interview with DC Connect, King describes this ambitious storyline with three signature timelines: the past, where Bruce and Selina fall in love; the future, where Bruce dies and Selina seeks to settle a score afterwards; and finally the present, where the Gotham costumed couple’s romance is threatened by the return of Bruce’s former flame Andrea Beaumont, aka the Phantasm. Both King and Mann expressed how excited they were for the project, especially King, who had nothing but compliments for Mann’s upcoming work, “I think the only thing that’s changed is Clay keeps getting better, and I keep trying to learn to stay out of his way. The pages Clay is turning in are some of the best since I’ve started reading comics.“
But the conclusion of the interview would add even more mystery to the long-awaited series. When asked if they’d be able to share anything regarding the Joker’s role in the series, King flat-out answered, “he dies.” The Joker has seemingly died about as many times as Batman throughout their comic histories, so this wouldn’t be unprecedented, but one possible answer as to how he bites the dust could lay with the series villain Andrea Beaumont.
Originally appearing in the iconic Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, the former fiancée of Bruce Wayne was revealed to be the daughter of a businessman indebted to the mob. When he could no longer pay what he owed, he fled with his daughter, forcing her to break off her engagement with Bruce and disappear. Years later, Andrea returned to get revenge on the mobsters responsible for murdering her father, one of whom was the Joker back when he was a mob enforcer. Her murder spree put her in direct conflict with her old lover Bruce, now Batman, who failed to save Andrea from this life of vengeance.
Having already seen a Joker die in Batman: Three Jokers and awaiting the conclusion of the ‘Joker War’ storyline, which has hinted at being the final battle between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime, the future of the Joker is equally exciting and unclear. Whether or not he dies by Phantasm’s hand, another villain, natural causes, or even at the hands of Batman himself, fans will have to wait until December to see how it all begins and ends.
