In one of the most shocking reveals of Watchmen’s world, it seems the superhero story also takes place in the world of Taxi Driver. Before Watchmen: Rorschach #3 features the title hero meeting a particularly notable character from Martin Scorsese’s classic film.
Taxi Driver came out in 1976 and stars Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybil Shepherd, and Harvey Keitel. The story centers around De Niro, who portrays Travis Bickle, a former marine who returns to New York and takes up a job as a late-night taxi driver. As Bickle works his job, the sleaze and decay of New York City disgusts him, causing him to take matters into his own hands to clean the city up. The movie was critically lauded and remains a cornerstone of director Martin Scorsese’s career. However, the film was also criticized for its use of graphic violence, as well as its frank sexual themes.
And it seems that Bickle isn’t the only one with a desire to clean up the streets of New York. In Before Watchmen: Rorschach #3 by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo, the titular hero is attempting to track down a local mob boss by the name of Rawhead. Unfortunately, Rorschach runs afoul of Rawhead’s men while interrogating one of the criminal’s top partners. Men burst in with guns trying to kill the vigilante, spraying bullets everywhere as Rorschach leaps out the window. Rorschach gets away, however, he takes a pretty nasty spill from several floors up and out onto the street. Rorschach ducks into the nearest taxi cab, only for the driver to be none other than Travis Bickle. As he ferries Rorschach around, Bickle comments on the trouble facing the city and how much he admires people like Rorschach for standing up to it.
What Taxi Driver and Watchmen’s Rorschach Share
While the taxi driver that Rorschach encounters isn’t technically named, his resemblance to Robert De Niro is uncanny. It’s hard to imagine that a taxi driver that looks like De Niro, openly discussing his disgust with New York City in the late ‘70s is supposed to be anyone other than Travis Bickle. The only hitch is that Before Watchmen: Rorschach is set in 1977 while Taxi Driver came out in 1976. So while it might not be the Travis Bickle film buffs are familiar with, the driver definitely meant to bring him to mind.
So does this cameo imply that Taxi Driver’s setting is a variant of the world in Watchmen? Or that the presence of costumed adventurers like Rorschach prevented the need of vigilante action from people like Bickle? More than likely, the appearance of De Niro’s character is just a tip of the cap to the atmosphere present in Before Watchmen: Rorschach. Both stories are set in a sleazy ‘70s New York and feature unhinged men fighting against criminal elements. Whatever the intention, seeing Rorschach from Watchmen and Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver share a scene is truly a perplexing sight to behold.
