#I also wish Martha-as-Joker and Joker would meet. that'd be INSANE

[distort-opia]

OK since we're talking about how do u think Bruce will compartmentalize his mom as the freaking joker 😭😭

Oh I am vibrating in excitement over how that's gonna go. Without giving any spoilers to Flashpoint Beyond... the thing is, Bruce shouldn't be blind-sided. He should've had time to digest this information. Because, in Batman (2016) #76, we get Damian saying this to Flashpoint Batman:

So. If this information is just out there in the Hall of Justice archives -- that Martha Wayne became Joker in the Flashpoint Universe -- how the hell would Bruce not know? Before City of Bane, Bruce does ask Thomas about what happened to his mother in the other Universe, but Thomas cowardly avoids it and says that "it doesn't matter". However, if Damian knows the truth, it's not a big leap to assume other Batfam members might know it too. Tim might've hacked into the database as well, for one reason or another. And if they did that, wouldn't Bruce either hear it from the Family somehow, or via his own research into Flashpoint Batman?

Bruce indeed never says anything to indicate he knows, so maybe within City of Bane he never found out somehow. But seriously, if they have Bruce be fully in the dark about this (like Flashpoint Beyond #4 suggests), after establishing Joker-as-Martha-Wayne is knowledge easily obtainable for anyone with hacking skills... that'd be stupid, ngl. Oh obviously it's more fun if Bruce is entirely surprised, but then wtf, DC! Do not make this information be known already in Bruce's Universe! If he's blindsided by it, it just makes him look dumb!

Aaaanyway. Leaving that aside, I think it'd be a shock to his system nonetheless. Bruce's first reaction to either finding it out or seeing it would probably be denial. He'd think it's a trick, a plan, some sort of scheme. Then, once he'd realize the truth... hah. I feel like he'd lash out at Thomas, for conceivably letting this happen. For not being able to save Martha before she became the freaking Joker. (Which is all sorts of meta, because Bruce has felt enough guilt over not being able to catch Red Hood before he fell and became Joker, too. Love it.)

The bitter, tragic irony is that his interactions with Martha-as-Joker might actually still follow his patterns with Joker in general... I can see her acting like Joker, being horribly cruel and murderous and the opposite of what Bruce remembers of her, and Bruce possibly breaking down and asking "why". Why did she choose to become this. Which is the question he's asked his own Joker too, so many times, without getting an answer. What I'm extra curious about, though, is the reaction of Martha-as-Joker. She freaking jumped off a cliff, essentially, when told that in a different world, Bruce had become Batman. So what would she do when she met him? Would she break down over what her son became? Would she do something similar to what Thomas did and try to get him to give up the cowl? And if that's her motivation when forcing Bruce to fight a Joker who wears his mother's face... [garbled noises]. It's all so tragic.

So many questions! I really hope they do something interesting with all this. It's just so full of potential, it could be so cool. Also, can you imagine Bruce having to fight his own Joker after everything, all while knowing his counterpart is married to Joker in another world. And that counterpart is his mother. I mean, sure, Bruce and Joker have literally been the same person in some worlds that Bruce knows about, but this just takes the cake.

#ngl I am obsessed #I also wish Martha-as-Joker and Joker would meet. that'd be INSANE #imagine all FOUR of them in the same room #I would lose my damn mind #asks #batman #batman meta #bruce wayne #flashpoint batman #thomas wayne #joker #flashpoint joker #martha wayne #my meta