Lord Of The Flies probably isn’t something you’ve thought about since your high school English class, but according to one fan theory, the book-turned-film’s merciless villain Jack Merridew might be responsible for the creepiest Joker ever played.
The theory, which is being tossed around on Reddit, alleges that Jack Merridew grew up to become Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight. It seems kind of crazy, but at the same time, it also kind of works.
Here’s the evidence:
Firstly, Jack doesn’t die at the end of the novel.
Simply put, he survives Lord Of The Flies, so he eventually became some sort of sick, twisted adult. There’s definitely some childhood trauma there which seems to be a popular trope used in the DC universe for superhero and super villain backstories. The difference between the two is often how they cope: do they let the trauma ruin them or do they fight to overcome it? Jack let it ruin him, but he already had sadistic tendencies, and he was still a child. Yeah, no way he turned out alright.
Jack turns into a sadistic savage at the end of the novel.
Like we said above, there’s no way he turned out okay. As you know, the Joker is a crazed killer and he likes to pair his crimes with jokes and games. Sounds pretty messed up if you ask us (and also just like Jack).
Jack and the Joker want to live in a world without rules.
Shared ideals link the pair.
Jack and the Joker both like to kill their victims slowly to see them suffer.
Did we forget to mention how messed up Jack was? In the novel, Jack and his crew find a female pig and kill it slowly even if they could have killed it quickly because Jack enjoys torturing the animal. The book describes Jack’s enjoyment of torturing the pig as “lust” (not to mention, killing and torturing animals is a legitimate precursor to becoming a full blown serial killer).
The Joker also has a similar love for torturing poor souls. He said at one point in The Dark Knight that he uses a knife instead of a gun because knives don’t kill you quickly. It’s exactly like how Jack killed the pig.
The Joker’s name is actually Jack.
Not every version of the Joker is called Jack, but a majority of them are. The D.C. comics imply that his name is Jack, Jack Nicholson’s Joker was named Jack Napier and Mark Hamill’s Joker was also named Jack Napier.
In Lord Of The Flies, Jack paints his face to go out killing.
Is this a precursor to becoming Gotham’s creepiest clown? We think so!
They have the same creepy, evil look.
Look at their faces. They’re like two peas in a pod. Left is Jack from the 1963 film Lord Of The Flies. Right is Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight.
Let’s be honest, the Joker’s actually origin was only revealed by DC earlier this year, and it turned out that there are three different Jokers. It also seemed like sort of a cop out.
So there are three Jokers now? I hope DC has them form a sketch comedy troupe, touring DCU college campuses and committing crimes.
— Steve Bryant writes and draws comics (@SteveBryantArt) May 25, 2016
With three Jokers out there, there’s a huge possibility that one of them is Jack. What do you guys think? Is this theory plausible?
