I had a similar thought, revengine, although I haven't seen the film yet. Joaquin must be playing a younger person, but it still seems weird. Batman battled a geriatric in The Dark Knight?

@Satch_the_man I suppose it could be Joaquin isn't supposed to be playing his actual age but someone younger who just looks like they've had a rough life. I don't remember the particulars for The Dark Knight, but I do remember at the end of Batman Begins Wayne and Gordon having a conversation about a new criminal in town, the Joker, and Wayne saying he'd look into it. I guess this means Fleck had a fairly lengthy stay in Arkham working on his Bona Fides while Wayne was off in the mountains training with Ra's al ghul?

The timing for Joker, taking place in the early to mid 80s, doesn't really match up for Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins either. If Batman Begins takes place when it was filmed, 2005, then that means ~30 years have passed since the Waynes were shot and Bruce Wayne becomes Batman and I was under the impression it was supposed to be about half that, probably less?

This film isn't a prequel. It's that simple.

@revengine said:

@Satch_the_man I suppose it could be Joaquin isn't supposed to be playing his actual age but someone younger who just looks like they've had a rough life. I don't remember the particulars for The Dark Knight, but I do remember at the end of Batman Begins Wayne and Gordon having a conversation about a new criminal in town, the Joker, and Wayne saying he'd look into it. I guess this means Fleck had a fairly lengthy stay in Arkham working on his Bona Fides while Wayne was off in the mountains training with Ra's al ghul?

The timing for Joker, taking place in the early to mid 80s, doesn't really match up for Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins either. If Batman Begins takes place when it was filmed, 2005, then that means ~30 years have passed since the Waynes were shot and Bruce Wayne becomes Batman and I was under the impression it was supposed to be about half that, probably less?

Midi-chlorian has a point - this is not the MCU and we shouldn't expect Marvel's level of continuity @ revengine.

By the way, please call me Celluloid Fan or some variant of it. "Satch" is a holdover from my IMDb days, way back when I called myself Satchmo is Cool....

@Celluloid Fan My apologies about the @ nick - I select Celluloid Fan from the list it gives me but it changes automatically to Satch_the_man. I suppose this movie not being a prequel of the Nolan series of Batman movies is the only conclusion that makes sense. BTW I noticed I said "~30 years have passed since the Waynes were shot" when it should have said 20. Typo I guess. Still, prequel or no, there's the odd choice of having an actor in his mid 40s playing a character that, by the time his nemesis (i.e. Wayne/Batman) is ready to start taking him on, he'll already be a senior.

Hey that @Satch_the_man thing is interesting!

It does indeed display @Celluloid Fan in the drop down list as soon as you hit "@" but it changes to @Satch_the_man as soon as you select it. It's because @Celluloid Fan is the display name entered in your profile but @Satch_the_man is still the under the hood account name.

You should report it as a bug to Travis on the support forum.

Thanks you guys, I will get on it.

Jack nicolson played him heth ledger played him so eh can be anyage..

@manfromatlantis said:

Jack nicolson played him heth ledger played him so eh can be anyage..

Good point. Nicholson was 50 when he played him in Tim Burton's Batman and Cesar Romero was 59 when he played him in the 60's TV series. I suppose I've become somewhat accustomed to younger actors playing him lately and TBH I didn't think Nicholson was quite that old when he played him.

I think the whole thing is up for grabs really - the story is set late 70s/early 80s and we could imagine Joker to be late 30's or early 40's - however the last scene inside Arkham implied to me that all the preceding film could have been simply today's story he was telling to the psychologist - the joke she wouldn't get. This fantasy was told with the backdrop of the 70s but the "real" era in which Joker is telling his story could be much later. Even if the story was mostly true - he could look older in the retelling because that's how he sees himself as he recounts the story.

This would give it room to tie in to the DCEU is they wished - with this iteration of the Joker kidnapping and converting Jason Todd who becomes the Joker we see in Suicide Squad (as an example)

@revengine said:

I also see why this movie so appeals to millennials - the generation who celebrates mental illness like it's something to be sought after and proud of. Joker is your king for sure.

For me, it showed that everyone who 'looks evil' or 'acts bad' has a reason for it. Don't know who you've been mingling with, but I don't know anyone who is proud of their mental illness. OK boomer?