Top 10 Times Batman Has Beaten Up The Joker
#10: "When The Clock Strikes Twelve, Do I Get a Little Kiss?!"
"Batman: The Long Halloween" (1996) The chronicle of Batman’s second year of war on Gotham’s criminals, and unofficial sequel to Frank Miller’s groundbreaking “Year One” graphic novel comes in the form of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s “The Long Halloween.” During the story, the still-fresh vigilante is dealing with a transition of traditional criminal thugs to the more colourful “Rogues Gallery.” The antithesis of the brooding Batman is the purple-clad Joker, and his entrance into the world is as OTT as can be, with him hijacking a stunt plane and attempting to gas Gotham City. The sheer battiness of the situation, pun intended, as Batman crashes Joker’s plan after a verbal battle, is not lost on us.
#9: “Oh, Bats… What a Night!”
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“Batman: Arkham Origins” (2013) Earlier days equal eager fists, apparently. With the third consecutive video game release of the Arkham series came a little bit of controversy as Warner Brothers took over production from Rocksteady Inc. Furthermore, the announcement that “Arkham Origins” would be a prequel starring a different voice cast did not bode well for longtime fans. However, history has been kind to the 2013 game, particularly towards the story which showcases Batman and Joker’s climactic clash – and it is brutal. Joker is desperate for Batman to commit murder, and it’s up to the player help push that particular enevelope by engaging in a button-mashing beatdown. Freeze frames, quicktime events and a dark chapel setting add up to a truly violent confrontation.
#8: Dracul-oker
"The Batman vs Dracula" (2005) In one of the stranger episodes of the DC character’s chronicles - the time Batman went up against a version of the Joker who was more vampiric than hectic. A spin off from the animated series “The Batman,” the film was really about a fight between a man who dresses as a Bat and a person who is… well, a bat incarnate. The best scene is ironically involving the resident batty subject Joker, who has been transformed into a vampire and found himself gorging on the local blood bank. Although the Draculoker has Batman on the ropes for much of the fight, some well placed garlic bombs and solar cells turn it around.
#7: "I'm Stuck Without a Punchline!"
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"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993) This criminally underrated, now unanimously loved animated feature did the impossible back in its day - by giving us a finale showdown between the Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime that matched that of the Tim Burton movie. Fighting in–and above–a theme park, the two nearly tear each other to pieces, though neither is able to claim true victory on account of the Phantasm’s interruption. Noir, melancholy and haunting, the Joker’s final cackle as he’s whisked away to his supposed doom remains iconic for a very good reason.
#6: "Too Soon?"
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"Harley Quinn" (2019-) Although neither Batman nor Joker serve as the central protagonists in this series, the two still retain their hate-hate relationship. Paying homage to the many comic books that have preceded it, Joker finds himself in Arkham Asylum and interrogated by the World’s Greatest Detective. Except here, said interrogation is brutal, leaving the incarcerated Joker bloodied and bruised. The show isn’t for children, something we’re reminded of with every blow Batman delivers. And true to form, the Joker puts up very little resistance, except for a nasty snipe about Robin. Truly a sucker for punishment, isn’t he?
#5: "Ah, What The Heck, I'll Laugh Anyway!"
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"Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" (2003) The Joker has a nasty habit of clipping the wings of Batman’s proteges, with this example being particularly gruesome. In what feels like the true conclusion to the classic animated series, we see through flashbacks the time where the Joker kidnapped Tim Drake…where he proceeded to mentally shatter him before turning him into a creepy version of himself. Thus we have Joker Jr, and the Caped Crusader is none too happy about it. Even with the Joker learning the truth about who lurks behind the cowl, it doesn’t spare him from a mercilessly Bat-beatdown.
#4: "I Made You, You Made Me First!"
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“Batman” (1989) For the first real on-screen showdown between Batman and The Joker, there was a real big fight night feel. In order to hype up even more emotional weight behind the movie’s finale, the 1989 Tim Burton feature made a couple of changes to the character’s backstories. Namely, it was Jack Napier, the man who would become The Joker that killed Thomas and Martha Wayne and not Joe Chill. Though long-time fans would go on to question the necessity of that alteration, it does make for a special mano-a-mano contest in which both men admit to actually creating each other’s alter-egos.
#3: "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before!"
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"Batman: Hush" (2002-03) The closest that Batman has ever come to breaking his own rule, and in typical Joker fashion, the clown finds it hilarious. Following the murder of an old friend, Batman comes dangerously close to squeezing the life out of Joker, until Jim Gordon intervenes and puts an end to the ultra-violent scene before The Joker is killed for something he (on this occasion) is innocent of. Ironically, even the Joker wants mercy here, but only because he wants Batman to break his code for a legitimate reason, i.e. so he can take all of the credit.
#2: "I'm Just Ahead of the Curve"
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"The Dark Knight" (2008) There has yet to be a live-action Batman and Joker confrontation that has matched the magnitude of this interrogation scene. A battle of ideologies as opposed to fists, the scarred anarchist clues Batman into his twisted world view, one that seems to hold some scary truth to it. No one can push the detective’s buttons quite like the jester, leading to Batman burying him under a flurry of brutal blows…while the Joker just laughs it all away. The punches may be staggering in force, but the crazed nature of the Joker’s howling somehow makes them feel weightless. Now that’s scary.
#1: "Why Aren't You Laughing?!"
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"The Killing Joke" (1988) When it comes to legendary bouts between this eternally dueling duo, few measure up to the conclusion of this one bad day. Crippling Barbara Gordon, nearly driving Jim Gorden to the fringes of madness, the Joker’s acts of cruelty lead Batman on a vendetta where he, naturally, beats the seven bells out of the clown until he’s on his last legs. What sets this entry apart, aside from it’s massive cultural impact, is that Batman actually tries to help the Joker come back from the abyss, cementing, and dooming, their fight as an everlasting struggle.
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