Tim Burton Dubbed ‘Batman’ Film as a “Duel of the Freaks” Despite Being Clearly Biased Towards the Joker

Tim Burton is known for his imaginative style in crafting movies, and out of them, is the 1989 film Batman. The director’s movie came out to be quite influential in the superhero genre and is the first installment of Warner Bros.

However, little did fans know that the main idea of Batman (1989) was a dispute between unlike and strange characters. According to Tim Burton, Joker being the main foe and an outsider, represents freedom as he isn’t bound to follow the rules. The filmmaker also considers Batman with two faces who’s hiding one of his faces from the world.

Tim Burton Revealed The Core Theme of Batman: Duel of the Freaks

When Batman was released in 1989, it received immense appreciation for portraying the complexity between the caped crusader and his long-time adversary the Joker. The movie is still considered to have showcased Joker in an incredibly crazy way, however, according to Tim Burton the director of the film, Batman’s core theme was a conflict between two outsiders even though the project felt completely biased toward the Joker.

Despite being regarded as a superhero, Burton considers Batman an antihero who’s hiding one of his faces from the world. Whereas the Joker flawlessly commits crimes in an extremely unpredictable manner. And as Burton explained, Joker isn’t the only freak in Michael Keaton‘s film. According to Wikipedia the director wrote in his book Burton on Burton that:

“The whole film and mythology of the character is a complete duel of the freaks. It’s a fight between two disturbed people.”

The rivalry between Batman and the Joker depicts how disturbed the characters are, and when Tim Burton took on the role to portray this complexity in the best way possible, he crafted the movie. The director also added that:

“The Joker is such a great character because there’s a complete freedom to him. Any character who operates on the outside of society and is deemed a freak and an outcast then has the freedom to do what they want… They are the darker sides of freedom. Insanity is in some scary way the most freedom you can have because you’re not bound by the laws of society”.

The director explained that Joker being the most challenging character, represents freedom. Burton believes that despite being an outsider, he has the power to do every mischief and get into a fight with Batman who’s also struggling with his alter ego.

Also Read: Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler Makes His Return in Another Exciting MCU Project

Tim Burton Was Never a Comic Book Fan

Also Read: Despite The Marvels’ Failure, the MCU Still Has an Upper Hand that Many Movies Fail to Reach

Despite creating a cultural phenomenon in 1989, Tim Burton revealed that he’s never been a comic freak. But what he genuinely admired was the intriguing rivalry between Batman and Joker. The Killing Joke transformed Burton into a true fan of the Batman stories, particularly the caped crusader’s conflict with the clown Prince of crime. He mentioned:

“I was never a giant comic book fan, but I’ve always loved the image of Batman and the Joker. The reason I’ve never been a comic book fan – and I think it started when I was a child – is because I could never tell which box I was supposed to read.”

The Alice in Wonderland maker added:

“I don’t know if it was dyslexia or whatever, but that’s why I loved The Killing Joke, because for the first time I could tell which one to read. It’s my favorite. It’s the first comic I’ve ever loved. And the success of those graphic novels made our ideas more acceptable.”

Tim Burton loved The Killing Joke and this marked the beginning of him finding passion in comic books. His Batman (1989) made almost $43.6 million in its opening weekend, breaking the record set by Ghostbusters II one week earlier.

Also Read: ‘Percy Jackson’ Star Walker Scobell Wants To Recreate Harry Potter Magic at Disneyland

Batman is available on Prime Video.