my portrayal of joker is mostly inspired by the 2019 film (joaquin phoenix stans, where you at), but with a few major differences. firstly, arthur is a decade younger when the gotham city riots take place — he’s in his mid-to-late 20’s. this is largely due to my discomfort with his and bruce’s age difference, but i digress. secondly, fleck gets locked up in arkham after the events of the film, and spends several years in isolation, which only strengthens his resolve. as time passes, he becomes more assertive (and dangerous) than his on-screen counterpart. he still retains some semi-noble goals, such as punishing those who neglect the poor and mentally ill, but sees obscene displays of public violence against anyone who he deems awful as his purpose.

the main timeline in which i write begins with batman’s return to gotham. arthur fleck is now a full-fledged, bona fide criminal, armed with a gun and an army of like-minded hooligans. his sanity is no longer in the picture; he’s a bloody, battered messiah, caught in an endless chase for acknowledgment. his life is a fucking comedy, and he’ll tell you all about it while shooting you in the back.