The Joker real name: What is the Joker's real name?

The Joker director Todd Phillips has added something new to the DC Comics canon. Joaquin Phoenix’s upcoming stint as the Joker will be a character study of the infamous villain. While the Joker is prolific in the Batman comics and has had many an actor don the painted face, little is known about his origin.

What is the Joker’s real name?

For the purposes of the Warner Bros standalone Joker movie, the Joker’s real name is Arthur Fleck.

This name is not strictly speaking canon, however.

The name is an invention of the director, whose goal was to show the evolution of a man into one of the most diabolical villains in comic book history.

A lot of responsibility has bee heaped on both Phillips’ and Phoenix’s shoulders.

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The last version of the Joker was not a critical success.

But with the introduction of the lauded Phoenix, The Joker hopes to be a different kind of film.

What is perhaps most interesting about the name Arthur Fleck is it does not appear in the comics.

In fact, the comic books never reveal the Joker’s name – even The Joker himself doesn’t know his own name.

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Alan Moore, co-creator of the Joker origin story The Killing Joke, sought to expand on the Joker’s history, writing one of the most cited origin stories to date.

In it, the Joker describes his evolution this way: “Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another … if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”

Expanding on this, another comic titled Batman: Gotham Knights has one issue which describes the Joker’s original name as Jack.

What inspired Phillips to choose Arthur Fleck remains unknown, but Batman fans have taken to the internet to give their theories.

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Filmmaker Kevin Smith teasingly drew a link between this iteration of the Joker and Ben Affleck’s version of Batman.

He tweeted: “Apparently, in the forthcoming #Joker movie, the Joker’s real name is Arthur Fleck. As in A. Fleck. Now THAT’S funny.”

Whether Phillips saw this similarity or not is unconfirmed, and until the movie hits cinemas his name is just another piece in a slowly unfolding puzzle that is The Joker.

The Joker movie is in cinemas October 4, 2019.