There Was an Alternate Ending to JOKER Which Would Have Been Jet-Black Sad and Changed Batman History
I was ultimately happy with the way that Joker came to an end, but there was an alternate ending that would have changed the whole history of Batman. In fact, it would have made it so Bruce Wayne’s Batman never existed!
This new information comes from Kevin Smith during a recent episode of Fatman on Batman podcast. In the final shot of the film, Joaquin Phoenix’s Arther Fleck is talking to a psychiatrist in a mental hospital before we see him make a run down a white hallway having seemingly killed the doctor he was speaking to with the blood on his shoes.
Well, things could have taken a much darker jet black and super sad turn. At the 16:35 mark in the podcast, the filmmaker explained that “somebody who works in the business, they’re in the know, fucking super smart, and a great storyteller” told him about this alternate ending to Joker. He says the final scene still happens in the mental hospital, but instead of killing the psychiatrist, Fleck laughs to himself after telling his story. After the laugh the doctor was going to ask why he was laughing, to which Arthur would have responded with, “I was just thinking of something funny.”
The film would then jump to a flashback of Thomas and Martha Wayne being murdered, but this time we see them die at the hands of Arthur Fleck. The scene would have shown Bruce Wayne crying in the alley next to his dead parents, but as Arthur walks away from the horrific murder scene, he would have stopped, looked back, shrugged, and then shot young Bruce Wayne. The film would then immediately cut to credits.
Whoa… I’m glad they didn’t take that route! That would have been terrible, and I probably would have hated the movie. As it stands, the film is one of my favorites of the year, but that would not be the case had the film ended like that. That would have ruined it for me. But I can see how it would be intriguing as well. This would have implied that Batman would have never existed in Gotham and insanity and violence would fully engulf the city with no hero to protect it from the crazy evil villains that would rise up.
This alternate ending certainly raises some interesting thoughts of what could’ve been and how the killing of Bruce Wayne would have changed Gotham City. What do you think of the alternate ending? Would you have liked to see the film end that way, or are you happy with what it ultimately delivered?