The CW's Batwoman is finally expanding the Arrowverse's rendition of Gotham City and with it comes the introduction of some of its most infamous residents and who better to start with than the Clown Prince of Crime himself? In its latest episode "I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury" a news report on Assistant District Attorney Angus Stanton, which highlighted some of his career's highest points, talked of one Jack Napier.
"[Stanton] went after some of the city's most notorious criminals, such as Jack Napier, otherwise known as ‘The Joker,'" says the reporter in the episode (via ScreenRant). This name, of course, is not new to Batman fans. For those of you who don't know, Jack Napier was used as the name of the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 take on the Dark Knight's tale. It was coined after combining the names of Joker actor Jack Nicholson's with that of Alan Napier, who played Alfred Pennyworth in the 1960s television show.
Nicholson's Joker is best remembered for a variety of reasons—for his famous quote, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" to his iconic laugh, but most of all, for being one of the rare renditions of the infamous villain with a backstory.
As all Batman fans know, the beauty of the Joker lies in the ambiguity of his background. In Burton's film, Napier worked as the right hand of mob boss Carl Grissom and was responsible for the killing of Bruce Wayne's parents Thomas and Martha Wayne. The closest thing the Joker has to an actual origin story perhaps comes in the form of Batman: The Killing Joke, which ironically has a portion where the Joker himself says that if given the choice to have a past, he'd prefer it to be in multiple-choice form.
It is unclear whether this is simply a subtle nod to the Burton film or if the series' writers plan on delving further into it.
Batwoman airs on Sundays at 8/7c on The CW in the US.
Related: Batwoman is Coming to The CW's Arrowverse
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