Joker vs. Thanos: Who's the Greatest Villain of 2019?

Round 1: Origins

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The origins of the man known only as The Joker have largely been kept vague over the years. In most versions, he began as a petty crook who, to flee, dove into a vat of chemicals, which dyed his hair and skin and drove him completely insane. But his life before this has either remained shrouded in mystery or been subject to change. In the version of his backstory from Alan Moore’s ‘The Killing Joke’, Joker was a failed comedian who turned to crime to support his wife. But even this version of his backstory was called into question, as Joker quipped that he prefers his past to be multiple choice. Who and what the character was isn’t quite as important as what he eventually became. Thanos, on the other hand, has a much more cut-and-dried origin. Born on Saturn’s moon Titan, the future cosmic despot was one of the Eternals, a race engineered by cosmic beings known as the Celestials. The Eternals are extremely powerful and long-lived, but Thanos was found to possess a mutation known as the Deviant Gene, which gave him purple skin and a hulking body. At least, those are his comics origins; his movie background is less clear. He’s still a native of Titan, but this Titan is a planet rather than a moon. It’s also unclear if he’s still related in any way to the Eternals or Deviants, though we may find that out in 2020’s “Eternals” movie. We’ll say that Joker’s ambiguous background fits pretty well with his persona as an agent of random chaos, so we’re giving round one to Mister J. Winner: Joker 1 / Thanos 0

Round 2: Powers/Abilities

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Physically speaking, The Joker isn’t what you’d call an impressive specimen. Usually depicted as rake-thin, he’s not someone who often poses a physical threat to his enemies. Over his long career as a criminal, however, he has built up a particular set of skills that make him a dangerous enemy. He’s an experienced saboteur and demolitions expert, with a real skill for blowing stuff up. He’s also employed a number of trick weapons over the years, from acid-squirting flowers to a lethal joy buzzer. His most iconic weapon, though, is the lethal Joker Venom, a chemical agent which causes hysterical laughing and eventually death. In contrast, Thanos is naturally far more dangerous in terms of raw power. He’s been shown to possess massive strength, enough to take on The Hulk in a one on one fight and win rather handily. He’s also a skilled warrior, enough to hold his own against the combined forces of Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and others. Rather than purely a physical threat, Thanos has shown himself to be a master tactician and planner, orchestrating events from the shadows in his quest to obtain the Infinity Stones. But when he decides to go for broke, he’s brought his massive resources to bear in the form of a huge armada and the aid of his many powerful followers. In terms of power levels, Thanos easily dwarfs the Joker and takes this round. Joker is no slouch, but Thanos is just on a much higher level. Winner: Joker 1 / Thanos 1

Like his origins, Joker’s motivations are mercurial and uncertain. In most of his iterations, his primary goal is to seed chaos and disorder purely for the joy of it. While some of Gotham’s other notorious villains are after wealth or power, Joker is really just in it for the laughs. If he’s shown any deeper motivation, it’s a desire to reveal the fragility of his enemies’ sanity by demonstrating that anyone can be driven as crazy as he is, to prove that that one bad day is all that stands between most ordinary people and total insanity. Thanos, meanwhile, has vastly different motivations in his comics and big screen versions. Comics Thanos is actually in love with Mistress Death, the personification of death itself who began appearing to him at a young age. Obsessed with winning her favor through mass slaughter, comics Thanos spread death and destruction in her name. Movie Thanos is different. Josh Brolin’s incarnation of the character believes that the universe is hurtling towards overpopulation, and that ‘thinning the herd’ by eliminating half of all life will lead to a utopia. While the Joker's mercurial, ever-shifting goals and ambitions have made for some interestingly chaotic and anarchic characterization, we’re giving this round to the Mad Titan for having clear-cut motivations in both comic and movie iterations. Chaos is fun and all, but sometimes you just wanna know what the bad guy really wants, ya know? Winner: Joker 1 / Thanos 2

Round 4: Enemies

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You don’t get to be as big a piece of work as The Joker without making a few enemies. OK, a lot of enemies. Like, an absolute ton of them. Joker’s arch-nemesis is, of course, Batman himself. Being a notorious villain, the other heroes of the DC universe are no great fans of the Joker either, but the Clown Prince of Crime has even alienated himself from his fellow villains more than a few times. His anarchic nature has clashed with the careful plans and machinations of fellow supervillains like Lex Luthor. Joker’s longtime squeeze Harley Quinn even turned against him. Thanos isn’t exactly popular either. Given his ambitions to kill half the universe and his overall power hungry and despotic nature, he’s clashed with the heroes of Earth including the Avengers, Nova and Quasar. If he has a true arch rival, it’s the cosmic hero known as Adam Warlock.. Like his competition, Thanos has also made enemies of some of the Marvel Universe’s other villains. Thanos has on occasion displayed a twisted sense of honor, but not enough to leave him with many allies outside of his most devoted followers. In the end, both of these villains have a list of enemies a mile long, but we’re giving it to the Joker for making enemies of even the DCU’s most despicable villains. Winner: Joker 2 / Thanos 2

Since his creation way back in the ‘40s, Batman’s arch-enemy has stood out from the pack as one of the more sinister and iconic villains in comics. A part of this is his terrifying appearance, but his nature as an unpredictable, anarchic wild card has helped secure him a unique place in comic book villainy. He’s become symbolic of pure and absolute evil, the cruelty lurking in the human spirit himself. He isn’t all that complicated, but speaks to something primal: the simple urge to, as Alfred once put it, watch the world burn. The Joker is our darkest selves, the part of us that just wants to lash out. Thanos, on the other hand, was much less well-known to the world at large until his debut in the MCU, and has had way less time to leave a lasting cultural footprint. It was really Josh Brolin’s performance that brought him into pop cultural ubiquity, coupled a thriving Internet meme culture. Since he gained prominence, he’s come to occupy a pretty sizeable piece of cultural real estate thanks to Brolin’s charismatic performance and the excellent script-writing of the monumentally popular “Avengers” movies. This last one is honestly no contest. While Thanos may have become supervillain royalty in the last few years, especially where mainstream audiences are concerned, he just can’t compete with the decades Joker spent establishing himself as one of the greatest villains of them all. Winner: Joker 3 / Thanos 2. While Joker took the poisoned crown in the end, both of these villains are at the top of their game when it comes to being just the worst.