Over the past thirty years, we’ve seen many iterations of Batman’s origin on film. We’ve seen poor Martha Wayne’s pearls hit the pavement five times in live-action films since Tim Burton’s Batman. And the number doubles when you add television and video game versions of the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents. The most recent iteration of this infamous moment came in last year’s Joker. Now, a fan film combines Joker’s origin story with an alternate take on the Wayne murders.
You can watch Chris .R. Notarile’s Martha/Joker down below, via their Blinky500 YouTube channel:
Martha is played by Dani Scott, while her husband Thomas is portrayed by Tom Proprofsky. The entire film is shot in one location, aside from the actual Crime Alley scene.
Notarile’s film has its origins in the comics lore. In the 2011 miniseries Flashpoint, the Flash travels back in time and disrupts the timeline. In doing so, he creates an alternate reality. In this world, Joe Chill murdered a young Bruce Wayne in Crime Alley, and not his parents. Martha then loses her mind at witnessing her son’s murder, and becomes this reality’s version of the Joker. Meanwhile, Thomas Wayne becomes Batman. The Joker vs. Batman dynamic takes on a whole new twisted dimension.
DC Comics
This was clearly the inspiration for Notarile’s short film. On the video description, he states “If you know Flashpoint, then you know this story. I really love the idea of visiting the darkest timeline in the DC universe. And I truly think Flashpoint is exactly that. Before I began writing this project, I looked over all of Martha’s Joker appearances, which ironically were not many. Her Joker origins were just glossed over and barely acknowledged, which I feel is a disservice to the amazing idea that she is. So I decided to give her the proper treatment.”
A big screen version of Flashpoint is coming soon, featuring both the Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck versions of Batman. But we doubt it’s going to go as dark as introducing the Martha Wayne Joker. So Martha/Joker may be the only live-action version of the Clown Princess of Crime we ever see!
Featured Image: Blinky500