"Something the Joker Would Do": DC Is About to Test Its New Batman With a Decision No One Sees Coming

Few characters are as fundamentally opposite as Batman and The Joker. Batman embodies order and safety, while the Joker thrives on brutal chaos and senseless violence. They've hardly ever seen eye to eye, but the Absolute Universe is about to put Batman to the ultimate test, forcing him to consider a response that might mirror the Joker’s own methods.

Batman and the Joker have always been opposites, but the Absolute Universe is a new place, and it seems the characters are more similar than ever before.

In Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's Absolute Batmannarrative, the Party Animals have been rampaging through Gotham for months, and there seems to be no end in sight to their brutal crime spree. When Batman steps in, Black Mask attempts to pay him off, offering 200 million dollars to stay out of their way.

In an interview with CBR.com, Scott Snyder discusses how Batman handles Black Mask's proposition, noting that this is one of the most violent and brutal issues of Absolute Batman to date. Snyder highlights that Batman's reaction may surprise some fans, as it's "something the Joker would do."

Batman Uses Black Mask's Money To Create a Bat-Signal

Absolute Batman #5 by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles.

Absolute Batman #5 New Bat-signal in the sky

Batman ultimately uses the money Black Mask gives him to create a giant bat-symbol, which he then projects into the sky with a searchlight. As cool as the Absolute Bat-Signal is, it's also exactly something the Joker would do. When offered millions of dollars to give up his mission, Batman uses the money to demonstrate what his mission is truly about. He transforms the cash into a bat-symbol and then lights it on fire, showing that he cannot be bought. It's a fantastic visual and remarkably similar to things the Joker has done in the past.

The Joker has never been motivated by money. While he’ll certainly pull off heists for cash, such as the time he tried to copyright the fish in Gotham Bay, that’s usually just to mess with people. Messing with people is the goal; money is secondary. The biggest example of this is in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, where the Joker burns millions of dollars in cash to demonstrate he’s not the typical Gotham criminal. Money has no value to him, and he has absolutely no problem setting it all on fire to prove a point, just like Batman in this instance.

Absolute Batman standing to the left and driving recklessly to the right

DC Pays The Dark Knight a Perfect Tribute With This Absolute Batman Easter Egg

Absolute Batman contains a genius homage to The Dark Knight, paying tribute to one of the best Batman stories of all time in one of DC's newest hits.

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Absolute Batman And Earth-Prime Joker: More Similar Than You Might Think

Comic Page Comes from Scott Snyder's Absolute Batman #5 (2025) - Art by Nick Dragotta

Batman and the Joker have always been opposites, but the Absolute Universe is a new place, and it seems the characters are more similar than ever before. In this universe, Batman is the one fighting against the status quo he doesn't believe in, disrupting the city of Gotham with chaos and destruction. Meanwhile, the Joker is the multi-billionaire who controls the majority of companies on Earth and has traveled the world. Considering their swapped positions, it's no surprise that Absolute Batman is burning money, just like the Joker of Earth-Prime continuity.

Absolute Batman has been full of surprises for both new and old readers. The book has been fantastic, and one of the most exciting parts is seeing how this new Batman and Joker will interact. This Batman is much more willing to embrace chaos to save his city from the criminals controlling it. He’s burned millions of dollars just to prove a point. While the main universe Batman has rejected the Joker's ideology for decades, it seems that Absolute Batman is beginning to see the value in the Joker's chaotic methods.