Chaos, mayhem, and disorder all bring laughter to The Joker. A burning world is the perfect place The Joker wants to live and thrive in. He does this in many fashions for all sorts of reason. The main way he does this is commit horrid acts on Gotham and her residents. The Joker wants that pain to lure out his friend, the one person who gets him; The Batman. Yet, The Joker’s name and reputation goes global and is a pain to much more than Batman. No crime is too small, too large, too petty, too simple, too complex for The Joker to commit. Everything is on the table for him, and many heroes within DC have been the target or have confronted the ripples of his actions. But how will he fare within the Marvel Universe? With new players to play with and new sources of power to obtain, The Joker could go just as wild within Marvel.
Now Marvel does have some of their own versions of The Joker running around like Deadpool, Carnage, and especially the Green Goblin. All have committed their own acts that are devastating, horrific and vile. Acts that are on the same levels of each other. Yet, what separates The Joker from any of them is he is the first. He set off that trend of villains that laugh along with death to commit more of it. And although an argument could be made that he is enhanced in some way but The Joker is a mortal, non-powered man. The Joker keeps Batman off balance and has the full attention from the entire Justice League all without having enhanced strength, super speed or a single laser coming from his eyes. Marvel tends to lean on villains who are enhanced by some way but DC has villains that are terrifying just by being an egotistical, deranged, troubled human.
A question that comes up with this idea is which villain will The Joker set his sights on? An easy answer will probably be Spider-Man. But that may be too easy, especially from an external point of view like ours. Since Spider-Man fights Green Goblin it would make sense for Spider-Man to take The Joker but again it’s easy to come to that conclusion. One answer is The Punisher. The Joker has mostly been a street-level villain while The Punisher has been a street-level anti-hero. With someone like The Joker who thrives in chaos and someone like The Punisher who uses chaos to take down his foes, the two are destined to cross. Both are theatric with their approach. Both are familiar with firearms and explosives. The confrontation between the two will be a volatile collision. But with The Punisher’s lack of morals for criminals, The Punisher will not hesitate to take out The Joker permanently. Another hero is Daredevil. Again, this may be an easy answer since many view Daredevil as a version of Batman. But there is an underlying story between these two. Obviously, Daredevil is blind. He won’t be able to see the bleached, ghostly tone of The Joker. Won’t be able to see that sinister smile. But Daredevil will definitely be able to hear that damned cackle. If The Joker is able to shoot up the ranks of Daredevil’s rouge’s gallery and make his life a living hell, that cackle will be the main thing that Daredevil connects to The Joker. Since Daredevil’s abilities give him a boost in hearing, he will be able to hear The Joker’s laugh in clear, vivid detail. If The Joker is able to make Daredevil’s life miserable by constantly being a threat, perhaps any laugh Daredevil hears will set off a traumatic response for him. It’s a rivalry that exists only in imagination but it does have a captivating dynamic.
Other than rampaging on street level, where else could The Joker do damage? Could he be an Avenger level threat? Yes! The Joker is not timid to gain more power. A few times he has boosted his strength with Bane’s venom. Has used Batman’s equipment. Has even used Scarecrow’s fear gas. And within Marvel’s universe, there’s a few new toys he could set his sights on. Iron Man’s advanced suits could literally send his laughter to new heights. But the biggest gems are the Infinity Stones. For someone like The Joker who has a knack for chaos, has a complete disregard for human life and will do absolutely anything to create mayhem, The Joker would literally kill to get his hands on the Stones. Marvel has had a somewhat normal man control the Stones. The Hood was able to control some of the powers of the Stones with no enhancements. Even in control of a few he got the attention from the Avengers and the Illuminati. Sparked an idea for another Civil War among the heroes. And he was troubled but for the most part was clear headed. If the deranged, savage nature of The Joker meets the limitless capabilities with the Infinity Stones, all the teams within Marvel’s universe will have to band together. They did so when Thanos got control of all the stones but Thanos had the plans to please someone he loves. The Joker will do anything with the Stones just because. The Joker’s unpredictability is terrifying enough with him only armed with a gun and a flower that shoots acid. That unpredictability with the power of the Stones, is a threat that may go beyond Avengers.
The Joker is an iconic villain who has clashed with some iconic heroes. He has been a pain for Batman and many more within DC’s universe. He has made Batman question his methods, his being. Has put Superman in a downward spiral to become a dictator. And has forced Batman to fight the Justice League. The Joker could easy be a threat to one or many of Marvel heroes and perhaps even other villains. The Joker is very versatile in his approach. He has the power to bring down empires and strong and powerful men. Baron Zemo was able to accomplish what more powerful men than he has tried; he brought down the Avengers. The Joker would do the same in much more destructive, explosive way.
