Joker's New Costume Was the Perfect Way to Hide His Secret Identity Twist
Warning: contains spoilers for Dark Knights of Steel #4!
The readers of Dark Knights of Steel came upon a startling twist in issue four when they finally saw the medieval world's take on the Joker. The enigmatic Green Man who orchestrated the assassination of King Jor-El was finally revealed to be a mashup of Green Lantern, Lex Luthor and, somehow, the Joker. The development was unexpected, particularly for fans that thought they had already seen this world's take on the Clown Prince of Crime in a variant cover months prior.
Dark Knights of Steel comes from the creative team of Tom Taylor, Yasmine Putri, Arif Prianto, and Wes Abbott. The story takes everything fans love about the DC Universe and places it in a fantasy landscape ruled by the noble El family. King Jor-El was assassinated early on the series, kicking off a war that promises to tear the lands apart. A figure known as the Green Man has been masterminding events behind the scenes, but now he's revealed himself, setting the stage for the next dark chapter.
While few fans were likely expecting the Green Man to be Luthor, far fewer had predicted him to be Joker as well. In fact, it seemed as though fans had already been exposed to the Dark Knights of Steel Joker in a few variant covers for the series' first issue. Drawn by artist Tyler Kirkham, two slightly different variants show a medieval take on the criminal clown. Much like Harley Quinn, who is a heroic advisor in the story so far, one cover shows Joker as a dark jester, riding a warhorse decked in his purple and green. The other resembles a knight, but still looks like a Joker fit for the sword and sorcery world of Dark Knights of Steel.
The covers seem to be an attempt to misdirect fans who were anticipating the Joker's arrival. By creating these variants, DC could tantalize readers eager to see what role the Joker would play in the story without giving too much away. And thanks to Harley Quinn's role as the Kingdom of El's court jester, it gave credence to the idea that Joker was going to be portrayed in a similar fashion, or at the very least, as a clown-themed knight.
Of course, the Green Man reveal suggests this won't actually be the case, making the covers a brilliant move that helped prevent fans from guessing the big reveal in Dark Knights of Steel. By keeping their cards close about the Green Man's true nature, as well as putting out covers with very convincing costumes, the creative team were able to bring out their biggest twist yet with maximum effect. Though the truth has been revealed about the Green Man, Dark Knights of Steel fans can still look back on these covers to appreciate the Joker that could have been.