Burton' s Batman takes this notion to a ridiculous level .
In the first act Batman is responsible for the creation of
the Joker. In the third act we learn The Joker is
responsible for the creation of Batman. I think writers
and audiences often see these connections as good
storytelling . To me , it comes across a little lazy. Does
every villain out there have to have some kind of
connection to the hero ? Aren' t there righteous people
and evil people in the world that aren' t thematically
connected ?
Nolan provides us with a Joker whose connections are
philosophical , but he admits he was created because of
Batman' s existence . His role in the world is defined by
Batman. " Escalation " as Gordon put it. Batman is
indirectly responsible for the Joker' s creation . It didn' t
take being dropped into a vat of chemicals to turn the
Joker into Batman' s nemesis.
I tried to think of a movie where the villain and the hero
aren' t inexplicably linked either philosophically or by plot
circumstance . The first person I thought of was Hans
Gruber . It always comes back to Die Hard , doesn ' t it ?
Hans Gruber is a money grubbing thief posing as a high
minded , ideological terrorist . He squares off with off
duty policeman John McClane , an unwitting victim of
circumstance . Die Hard has one of the best heroes and
villains ever committed to film . And neither of them
knew of the other ' s existence prior to the events of the
film . Hans didn' t kill McClane ' s father. McClane didn' t
arrest Hans for bank robbery back in New Jersey .
They ' re just two people with radically different agendas
with no pre - existing knowledge of their existence and no
shared history. Wouldn' t cinema be better served by
some movies where the villains and the heroes aren' t
intertwined at a molecular level ? It ' s funny that we get
the more standard hero/ villain relationship in the sequel
Die Hard with a Vengeance . Simon (Jeremy Irons ) is
revealed to be Hans Gruber ' s brother which provides
them with a shared history .
It ' s probably safe to assume that this kind of cinematic
device isn ' t going anywhere. Batman will always have
the Joker. Movie villains will often be written to have a
shared history with the hero . While it makes cleaning
up the story tidy , it isn ' t the most innovative approach .
And with more big budget franchise movies coming our
way, I doubt the formula is going to radically change
