// today is a fucking hectic day at work I’ve just had a 10 minute lunch break but I’m going to need to get back because I have a lot to do and the fact that I work for lawyers makes me MASSIVELY RELATE TO GUMSHOE RIGHT NOW
anyway if anyone wants to rp with exhausted, overworked Gumshoe and maybe take him out for a drink or make him a meal or just give him a doughnut that would be really cute
A Conspiracy Theory about Batman V Superman that’s making me hate myself
Let’s talk about irrational fan theories that better not actually happen or I’ll go berserk on DC.
This theory is probably similar to other ones that have been circulating and it hinges on a bunch of obscure details that have already been revealed in pre-movie leaks and trailers. There shouldn’t be any real spoilers here other than minor things, but I’m putting this all under a cut anyway.
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Dick Grayson is the Joker
And I hate myself for typing that.
To anyone who’s making weird faces at me from behind your computer screens (first of all-- that’s totally reasonable), but second of all, it’s my job drag you so deeply into my conspiracy theory that you’re paranoid and upset with me, so let’s begin.
We’ll start with something happy, like Dick Grayson’s gravestone.
(That was sarcasm. I’m screaming internally.)
This gravestone was leaked about a year ago, and it caused a bunch of fan confusion and outrage (-raises hand-) before dying out once people realized this gravestone was from a scene where Bruce attended his parents’ funeral (-keeps hand raised-). Clearly Dick Grayson cannot die before Bruce’s parents die or the timeline would make absolutely no sense; hence, this gravestone was dismissed as fake, Dick Grayson was safe, and all was right in the world.
[[ Mild spoilers ]] Which would have been great, except that the funeral scene in BvS turns out to be a nightmare Bruce is having instead of a flashback, and suddenly that implies that the gravestone is in Bruce’s nightmare because Bruce is haunted by Dick’s death.
Just to be clear, while I was watching BvS I was trying to read the gravestones but I couldn’t because the scenes were moving too fast and the gravestones were too small. I don’t feel like it will be easy to confirm the name until after the extended version of the movie is released, but in the meantime we have [this] which does show that the gravestone itself was in the movie.
Since Zack Snyder apparently has no problem fucking timelines up, this would explain why Batman has gone batshit violent and murderous on us. It’s because the first Robin died at a young age (which, by the way, is still damn weak justification for making Bruce a killer).
“First” Robin, though.
Which means that the Robin costume seen in BvS most likely belongs to Dick and not Jason. (I’m sorry about your lack of son, Jason fans.)
[[ Mild spoilers ]] There was a scene in the middle of the movie where Alfred got on Bruce’s case by saying, “Not that there's going to be a next generation.” This informs us that Bruce has zero heirs in this universe– which once again implies that the Robin suit was owned by the “first” Robin rather than a second Robin (or we’d see two Robin suits instead of one). Unless Snyder actually makes Jason the “first” Robin in this universe, it seems more and more likely that Dick is the one who’s dead in this universe. If Dick is dead, this essentially stops any future Batfamily characters from existing because he’s the first child.
So judging by the gravestone, the Robin suit, and Alfred’s comment about Bruce basically having no children, Dick is dead. (And no, I’m not fine, thanks for asking.)
Now what in the world does this have to do with Dick being the motherfuckin’ Joker? -flips computer desk and walks over to next slideshow-
The universe this movie is based off of is Earth-31 AKA Miller-verse AKA The Dark Knight Returns / Strikes Again. Most of us are familiar with this universe already considering TDKR is a pretty mainstream comic even though it was published in 1986.
What most people are not familiar with despite this story’s popularity is that Dick Grayson is the Joker in Earth-31.
Dick Grayson is the Joker in Earth-31. (I said it twice in case you refused to believe me the first time.)
The sequel to TDKR is The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2002), and in this story, Frank Miller drags Dick Grayson’s characterization to hell to make him a murderous psychopath.
“Dick was known to have been fired by Batman in disgrace for gross incompetence. He went through an experimental procedure that made him nigh immortal through cellular regeneration, and he was actually driven insane. He became the second Joker after the original one, and murdered several retired superheroes, including the Creeper and the Guardian. After attempting to kill Catgirl, Batman finally killed him by throwing him into lava and extinguishing all of his cells simultaneously.” [x]
-sits with fingers poised together and slowly turns in chair to stare in the general direction of Frank Miller with murderous intent-
I pay my taxes. I don’t deserve this.
Normally this is something that we would all blissfully ignore (and something we usually do blissfully ignore because what the ever loving fuck, Frank Miller. INCOMPETENT? THE JOKER??? EXCUSE ME?), but right now we have to acknowledge that it exists to discuss this annoying BvS theory.
Shortly after that comic came out, you know who else wanted to turn Dick Grayson into Batman’s arch nemesis?
That’s right, Dan DiDio, another person who hates Dick Grayson. This is a story idea he pitched in 2005, a couple years after Frank Miller’s story.
“The breaking of Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson travels down a dark path and emerges as Batman’s great nemesis because Dan DiDio hates me apparently.”
You know what Dan DiDio, Frank Miller and Zack Snyder all have in common? They all love things that make me want to rip my hair out.
So Dick was the Joker in Earth-31. So what? Who cares. Just because Batman V Superman is based on Earth-31, it doesn’t mean Dick is the Joker in DCEU.
Right, I totally feel that, but this is a conspiracy theory, so we’re going to get ridiculous about it.
If you look at the Robin suit, you’ll notice some (bullet holes?) in the armor near the shoulders.
You'll also notice that the Joker has scarred tissue in the same spots.
Look at the Joker’s mouth and notice his several missing teeth at the front. It’s almost like he was hit with a crowbar or something. Can you think of any other explanations for why the Joker would have a bunch of damaged teeth but only at the front of the mouth where he’s more susceptible to being hit repeatedly with something?
[[ Spoilers ]] Within the movie, it’s revealed that the Joker is still alive. Why would the Joker still be alive in a universe where Bruce kills people unless the Joker is someone Bruce doesn’t want to kill. I hate myself too.
The internet was circulating rumors about Jason Todd being the Joker, which I originally thought was bullshit, but if Dick is the dead Robin, and if BvS is based off Earth-31, and if Zack Snyder has the same bad taste in story plots as Miller and DiDio, then it looks like the universe hates all of us because Dick Grayson did not watch his parents fall to their deaths just to be made into the motherfucking Joker
[[ Mild spoilers ]] @comic-commentary also reminded me of a line from BvS where Bruce says, "How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?” This implies that Bruce knows a good person (or several good people) who went bad. And who else can Bruce be talking about when the Justice League doesn’t even exist yet and he barely has any allies? Besides Harvey Dent... we have Dick Grayson. It also might explain why Jared Leto’s cast for the Joker is so... unconventional and seems un-Joker-like compared to all the classic roles we’ve seen.
So anyway -sounds of my sanity cracking- welcome to my villain origin story. I’m sorry to everyone who follows me, because if this ends up being true I’m going to scream loudly. Forever. For now, I’m suffering through the five stages of grief and plan on spending the next several months sharpening my pitchfork and attending therapy
what the fuck did my baby do to deserve any of this
I DONT CARE WHAT MY MOTHER DOES TO HER BOYFRIEND I WANT HIM OUT OF OUT FUCKING LIFE.
HE LITERALLY
GRABBED MY BROTHER FROM HIS NECK AND PUSHED HIM ONTO THE WALL.
I DONT CARE WHERE HE FUCKING GOES
BUT IF HE DOES ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN OR STEPS INTO MY HOME I WILL GRAB MY KITCHEN KNIFE AND FUCKING SLAUGHTER HIM.
I WILL GO TO PRISON BUT WHO FUCKING CARES
HE WILL BE DEAD AND ILL BE FUCKING GLAD.
