>>117209381Make Batman's other villains more impressive.
Seriously the problem with the Joker is not that he is per se overused or played out - it's that he's Batman's genuinely most interesting, most dynamic nemesis.
Mr. Freeze is as one note as it gets.
Plots involving Two Face/Harvey Dent see some decent mileage but nothing really show stopping.
The Riddler is a goddamn joke who may as well be called the fucking Diddler.
I personally am fond of the Penguin but old Oswald never really gets to live up to his potential in a real scenery chewing way like the Joker.
There's a reason that a lot of Batman's "rogues gallery" were spun off in to their own sort of character-sphere in the Harley animated series - they're a decent supporting cast. Yet somehow, in a series all about Villains, THE FUCKING JOKER LOOMS OVER THE ENTIRE STORY.
Sure it's because it's about Harley and her fucked relationships, hers with the Joker being number one and the inciting incident, but that's kind of the problem.
The Joker is well developed. The Joker is fleshed out. He is dynamic and capable and interesting. He is just as much a protagonist - driving the motion of the story - as Batman is in Batman's own stories!
So just take some goddamn time to reimagine and explore and grow out the other villains and the Joker won't feel like he's stealing the goddamn show all the time.
Here's an idea -
Reimagine E. Nigma as a former US Marine with severe PTSD. He puts up a front, the cutesy riddles and gags thing - but deep down its because he just wants to live in a world of constant uncertainty and adversity. A combat zone where dumb trivia puzzles are linked to IEDs and life is as much a game to be solved as a crossword puzzle. And instead of the familiar lime Tuxedo he wears fatigues with ?'s on all the ID patches, and carries a rifle with "RIDDLE ME THIS" painted on the side.
You recognize the character but now he's different. An iconoclast. He's the Heath Ledger to Jack Nicholson.
