Current Events > What if the Joker were to be played by a black man. Your reaction?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Its about time we had a black Joker. Even a black Batman & black Robin would be great.

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"oh boy another Batman movie"

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Gamers Rise Up

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I think we need a Vulcan Joker

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We certainly do live in a society

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I don't tend to have a reaction off race alone. Unless you made a movie with like a white MLK or black Abraham Lincoln or something. Otherwise, I need to see who the actual actor is and how well they represent the character.

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As long as he's got his makeup on for 90% of his screentime i don't care tbh.

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Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man.

AlisLandale posted...

As long as he's got his makeup on for 90% of his screentime i don't care tbh.

I was this way with deadshot in suicide squad. I probably woukd have dropped my gripe altogether had he just wore the mask most of the movie. At least fight scenes

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As long as they could do the character justice, I'd be fine with it. However, I feel having a black guy as joker would have Hollywood be like "We need to make the Joker more 'street'". Then they'd try to make him up as some tough guy mobster character. Cue a Jared Leto-esque rendition, nobody likes it, Hollywood calls everyone racist, and so on and so forth.

I guess it would all come down to who is handling it (actor, director, writer) and how much pressure comes down from on high on the movie. Maybe I'm too cynical about Hollywood these days.

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Killmonger posted...

Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man.

omfg the accuracy

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Lex Luther is black

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We live in a White Society!

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Wouldn't that be considered offensive to black people?

I'd question why they would make that change when there are already black Batman characters, a number of whom should hit the screen.

I don't like changes like that, and I'm quite annoyed New Mutants didn't cast Sunspot as a mixed race Brazilian, his father being an Afro-Brazilian was an important part of his origin.


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He's already been played by a black man.

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BLAKUboy posted...

He's already been played by a black man.

Yeah was gonna say, didn't Gotham already do this

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"Ok"

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Hairistotle posted...

Yeah this prob. Only character I don't ever want race changed is superman. Even then I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if it happened

yeah it would probably be weird if Superman wasn't a Kryptonian

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SmidgeIsntBack posted...

Yeah was gonna say, didn't Gotham already do this

I never watched that show, I was talking about The Batman.

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thronedfire2 posted...

yeah it would probably be weird if Superman wasn't a Kryptonian

New Super-Man is a modern classic comic run and everyone who doesnt read it is doing themselves a disservice.

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Maybe a black Robin?

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Keegan-Michael Key could be a decent Joker.

iPhone_7 posted...

Maybe a black Robin?

oh the black guy has to be the sidekick?

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You'd have to pay me to give a shit.

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People say they love the joker because he doesn't have a clear backstory. This would put that to the test.

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cjsdowg posted...

People say they love the joker because he doesn't have a clear backstory. This would put that to the test.

Not really. Backstory and skin color are two different things. I knew people who didnt like the idea of there actually being 3 jokers.

Its the fact the worlds greatest detective cant even figure him out. Someone could be upset over something as petty as them changing his skin color and it not having anything to do with this

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"it better be eric andre"

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Black Joker would be lit.

I nominate Denzel.

He was black in The Batman cartoon
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Oh to add my opinion i dont care as long as his face is white. Clown make up white not Caucasian white.

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I just don't see the point in changing the race of established characters.

If Joker was a mantle or title and the new guy taking up the Joker mantle was black fine, but THE Joker has always been white so idk why it should be changed. Just like I wouldn't want Blade to be white because he has always been black, or black lightning.

Black Batman or Robin can work because again those are titles so you can have a new character not Bruce Wayne be Batman. Think Miles Morales Spiderman. That is how you do the whole "making a white character black" thing. New characters taking over the title/mantle, not just retconning Peter Parker into being not white anymore.

The change in appearance wouldn't matter since Joker's skin and hair are bleached by chemicals anyway. If anything, the contrast of before and after would be more pronounced because of it. The big issue would simply be in how the character is interpreted.

Joker is a character who is entirely unsympathetic, easy to hate and fun to hate, and who faults society for his own shortcomings and malice. Plus his pet hatred for Batman could be easily reinterpreted as well. "Hey, there's this guy who thinks that society is out to get him, and who hates law enforcement, when he's really just an unrepentant criminal. Let's go beat him up and show him what he deserves."

I could see making Catwoman, Robin, Poison Ivy, Commissioner Gordon (and Batgirl), Mr. Freeze, Clayface, or Harvey Two-Face black. Joker is probably one to stay away from unless there's an actor out there who would kill in that role and who actively vies for it. Even then, I think it would have to shape how the character is interpreted. I don't think we could delight in seeing Batman beat up a black man who's always talking about how fucked society is.

Then again, maybe the best thing would be to let the story mechanically play out how it always has and not get caught up on potential implications. It really can't say.

MKScorpion posted...

I just don't see the point in changing the race of established characters.

If Joker was a mantle or title and the new guy taking up the Joker mantle was black fine, but THE Joker has always been white so idk why it should be changed. Just like I wouldn't want Blade to be white because he has always been black, or black lightning.

Black Batman or Robin can work because again those are titles so you can have a new character not Bruce Wayne be Batman. Think Miles Morales Spiderman. That is how you do the whole "making a white character black" thing. New characters taking over the title/mantle, not just retconning Peter Parker into being not white anymore.

*yawn*

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Needs would complain that they're not being "faithful" to the character, despite the character having a "multiple choice" past.

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Umbreon posted...

Needs would complain that they're not being "faithful" to the character, despite the character having a "multiple choice" past.

Sometimes I remember being born white, sometimes I remember being born asian!

Joker...youre black.

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AlisLandale posted...

Sometimes I remember being born white, sometimes I remember being born asian!

Joker...youre black.

"Wasn't I Cuban in the 60s, though?"

Joker is literally the most flexible and inconsistent pop culture villain there is. We literally have a critically acclaimed origin movie starring him without Batman despite that being a thing comic book nerds never wanted to watch.

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The Batman (Show)
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"Is he true to the character?" should be the only question anyone asks.

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pauIie posted...

*yawn*

What was wrong with what he said? It's not like he said Batman or Joker have to be white, only that it made more sense to go the legacy character route than to change an established character's ethnicity. I'm not against race changes, but comic books do offer a simpler solution.