Zack Snyder Making A Batman/Joker Team-Up Movie?

Zack Snyder might be talking up a Batman/Joker film.

By Jason Collins | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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The ending scenes of Zack Snyder’s Justice League showed us what Bruce Wayne dreams of and what could possibly come to be if Superman was ever compromised. The dream scene shows two archenemies, Batman and Joker, teaming up to stop Superman’s regime over the Earth, teasing what could be a Batman/Joker team-up movie. But is Zack Snyder making such a film?

Well, according to the industry’s insider, Daniel Richtman, Zack Snyder wants a Batman/Joker duo movie set in the Knightmare Apocalypse, something the director teased in his cut of the Justice League epic. Naturally, the Knightmare movie would feature Ben Affleck’s Batman, and Jared Leto’s Joker, fighting alongside one another to defeat Superman and stop his regime over Earth. However, this is only a speculation, at best, given Snyder’s falling out with the Warner Bros. since the studio openly admitted to not wanting to work with him again and revoking his welcome at the studio.

Presumably, this has a lot to do with Zack Snyder pushing the SnyderVerse, his creative vision of the DC Extended Universe, and the ongoing fandom’s campaign surrounding the Snyder Cut, which overperformed Warner Bros.’ theatrical release. Put simply, the Snyder Cut enjoyed high critical praise when compared to the Warner Bros.’ theatrical box office flop. However, the studio abandoned Snyder’s idea and his original design of the DC Extended Universe, focusing instead on the multi-dimensional DC characters and story arcs currently in development, labeling the studio’s behavior to the director as “aggressively anti-Snyder.” The studio even toyed with the Man of Steel sequel by making massive changes to the otherwise canonical storyline, instilling the fandom’s wrath, which called for massive boycotts of the movie.

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Given the current situation between Zack Snyder and WB, it’s highly improbable we’ll ever see a Batman/Joker team-up movie, dubbed Knightmare Apocalypse. The film would’ve built upon the theme of the teased scene in a Knightmare alternate timeline. For those unfamiliar with the comic book history, Knightmare was a long-lasting conflict between Batman’s insurgency and Superman’s regime. The Snyder Cut’s introduction of Darkseid and the Anti-Life Equation sets the stage up for the speculated movie, in which Superman, devastated by grief over Lois Lane’s death, becomes susceptible to the Equation and allies himself with Darkseid. He conquers the Earth in Darkseid’s name and becomes a tyrannical ruler of Earth, prompting Batman to join with the Clown Prince of Crime and other villains in an attempt to overthrow Superman’s regime.

The comic’s version of Knightmare has no happy ending – at least not for Batman. Superman ultimately succeeds in defeating Batman’s insurgency and robbing Joker of his arch-nemesis. However, a future version of Flash went back in time to the present version of Batman, warning him about the possible future. Would Zack Snyder’s Knightmare Apocalypse end the same? Unfortunately, we might never find out. Warner Bros. is the current owner of the franchise, and it’s improbable that they’ll ever let Snyder anywhere near the DC Extended Universe, let alone allow him to direct any Batman/Joker team-ups. But who knows what tomorrow brings, right? Maybe the new merger between AT&T and Discovery brings the SnyderVerse back to life.