I Was Wrong: The Joker Really Is Destined to Beat Batman And Here's Why This Fate Is Inevitable

No villain has been more persistent in his attacks on Batman than the Joker. Every other villain will either retire or give up on their goals. But the Joker has been shown to constantly evolve with Batman; no matter what Batman does, the Joker is still there, matching him every step of the way. I truly think that this means, eventually, that the Joker will end up defeating Batman, and there are tons of stories in the DC Universe that support this theory.

It's no secret that Batman is getting older. Batman has been fighting crime in Gotham for decades at this point. It's only natural that he'd get older and that he'd start to slow down. Because of this, Batman is considering a serum that restores his youth, as seen in Detective Comics #1091 by Tom Taylor, Mikel Janín, and Wes Abbott.

This new "immortality" serum would make it much easier for Batman to fight crime and protect Gotham City for as long as possible, but I think that there's a major negative consequence that Batman hasn't thought of yet, and it involves the Joker living forever alongside him.

DC Has Implied that the Joker Will Live as Long as Batman Does - If Not Longer

If Batman Doesn't Retire, the Joker Will Kill Him

The Joker is obsessed with Batman. If Batman finds a way to stop his aging, then there's no reason to think that the Joker won't find a similar way to extend his own life so that their battle can continue forever. The most concerning thing about Batman accepting this youth serum is that he hasn't considered how the Joker will react to it. Batman has agonized over whether he should accept the serum or not, even talking to Superman, who ultimately convinces him to do it. But that Batman never even considered how the Joker would respond to this means that Batman doesn't understand one fundamental aspect of his biggest villain.

DC has published many stories that show that when Bruce Wayne stops being Batman, then so too does Joker stop being a villain. One of the most important of these stories is Batman: Going Sane by J.M. DeMatteis and Joe Staton. The same is true in the story of The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. In the former, the Joker immediately gives up his violent ways and becomes a normal law-abiding citizen of Gotham after he believes that he's killed Batman. In the latter, once Batman retires, the Joker goes into a catatonic state, only becoming active again when Batman's return is reported on the news.

Now that Batman has ensured that he will never retire, the only option left is Batman's death.

Both of these situations are a definitive end to the battle between Batman and the Joker. But now that Batman has ensured, in Detective Comics, that he will never retire, the only option left is Batman's death. I know it might be hard to believe that the Joker will defeat Batman, especially after the decades worth of victories that Batman has over him, but there are so many stories that state that, given enough time, the Joker will definitely kill Batman. It isn't just across alternate universes either, as even certain future stories have shown that the Joker will often outlive Batman.

Eventually, the Joker Always Seems to Kill Batman

Is Batman's Fate Really Set in Stone?

There are several timelines where the Joker ultimately kills Batman. A few alternate universes are the origin of The Batman Who Laughs in the Dark Multiverse. Here, the Joker decides to launch one final attack on Batman, succeeding in killing most of Batman's allies and transforming Batman into a new Joker.

Another example is in Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang, whereinthe Joker and Batman's final battle comes to be known as Fool's Night, which is the night that Batman dies. Knowing Batman would always choose to save a life over anything else, the Joker tricks Batman into killing James Gordon, and when Batman tries to take revenge, the Joker kills them both with a bomb vest.

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There are so many examples that show Batman and the Joker's feud can only end one of two ways. Either Batman retires and the Joker quits as well, or the Joker will eventually evolve to a point where he kills Batman. Now that Batman has taken a serum that gives him eternal youth, it's unlikely that he'll ever retire, which means that he's simply guaranteed his own death. I honestly think that it's surprising that Batman, the world's greatest detective, didn't take into consideration the behavior of his biggest villain before making this crucial choice.

The Joker Will Never Stop Fighting Batman

Never the End - At Least for These Two Iconic Characters

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Having to constantly consider the Joker isn't the greatest thing, but as Batman refuses to kill him, making this choice without considering the Joker's reaction is an absurdly dangerous mistake. Batman and the Joker have been fighting for decades, and the Joker has only continued to grow more and more dangerous. While some fans might think that the Joker will simply get old and be unable to keep up with a forever-young Batman, there have been plenty of universes and timelines where the Joker has managed to prolong his life, such as Batman Beyond. I really don't doubt that, with this serum, Batman is destined to be killed by the Joker.

Detective Comics #1091 is available now from DC Comics!