WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Promising Young Woman. This piece also contains discussions of rape and gendered violence, including murder.
The DC Extended Universe has already started to explore the Multiverse. Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker existed in a different world, and Matt Reeves’ The Batman is reportedly set on Earth-2. Given The Flash will also explore alternate realities, per Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck both appearing as Batman, it’s safe to say Warner Bros. has no problem with movies in different dimensions. With that in mind, if the studio ever wants to adapt Flashpoint‘s female Joker, Promising Young Woman proves Carey Mulligan would make a solid choice.
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Flashpoint‘s Joker is none other than Martha Wayne, who loses it when young Bruce is killed in Crime Alley, flipping the Batman origin story on its head. She goes insane, hellbent on vengeance through creating chaos. Martha is well and truly broken by a toxic society, not needing to be doused in chemicals like most of Gotham’s villains. She becomes a criminal, causing Thomas — her husband — to become the Bat. As the Caped Crusader, Thomas tries to stop his homicidal wife in one of DC’s most gut-wrenching subversions of the Dark Knight’s tragic origin
In Promising Young Woman, Mulligan’s Cass follows a similar journey as she deals with the loss of her best friend, Nina. She pretends to be drunk at night, preying on sexual predators to teach these toxic males a lesson. The film gets cerebral when Cass starts crossing names off a list of those responsible for Nina’s rape, suicide and eventual cover-up. Cass even dupes the dean of her and Nina’s former med school into thinking her daughter’s going to be sexually assaulted, all so she can regret covering up Nina’s incident.
Admittedly, Promising Young Woman‘s not as violent as Joker on a rampage. However, it gets that way toward the end when Cass finds out her boyfriend, Ryan, witnessed the recorded rape and said nothing. As such, she blackmails him into giving her the location of the Al’s, the villain, bachelor party before deciding to mutilate him.
This is where Promising Young Woman‘s plot gets dark. Cass smears lipstick on her face, evoking the Flashpoint Martha and Heath Ledger’s Joker, with make-up and masks hiding the monsters humanity can really be. Ironically, Cass rocks a nurse’s outfit, once more nodding to The Dark Knight, as she pretends to be a stripper at Al’s bachelor party. There, she drugs everyone and handcuffs Al before carving Nina’s name into his body. While she doesn’t succeed, her sinister persona stands out. Cass’ voice, eyes and overall demeanor come off calm yet demonic, reminiscent of the Joker.
Mulligan’s performance, while psychotic, really has a social justice warrior feel to it that puts her right up there with Ledger and Phoenix, earning her a nomination for Best Actress. Cass is considered an anti-hero for the war she waged. In that regard, she feels like the perfect feminist Joker for a live-action Flashpoint adaptation.
Written directed and co-produced by Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman stars Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton and Laverne Cox.
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