As depictions of the Joker have shown us time and again, we’re all just a step or two removed from becoming a nihilistic, paint-smeared chaos-herder. One bad day, one late night talk show host mocking your open mic standup routine, one tumble into a vat of boiling chemicals at the hands of a billionaire vigilante—apparently that’s all it could take for one of us to dye our hair green, slap on some face paint, and become a class war icon for the streets of Gotham.
Perhaps that’s why some anarchic maniac on Twitter replaced the audio of Joaquin Phoenix laughing in the new Joker film with Seth Rogan’s instantly recognizable stoner chuckle…
“Not Seth Rogen! He’s so cuddly and lovable. There’s no way he’d succumb to Joker’s sadistic worldview. Perhaps Poison Ivy, for obvious green reasons, but not Joker!” you may think to yourself. But really, who’s to say what darkness lurks behind those deep brown Canadian eyes of his?
Sadly, like a plume of Joker’s laughing gas spreading throughout town, it would appear that none of our beloved public figures are safe from minions of the Clown Prince of Crime’s digital machinations.
Okay, Nicki Minaj always seemed to enjoy some chaos, so maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised with that one. But Harry Styles and Bill Hader? Damn you, Joker, not them, too! (Even though the latter sounds surprisingly appropriate.)
A random anime girl, Tobey Maguire, Peter Griffin and…Samuel L. Jackson? Samuel L. Jackson! Motherfucker, now you’ve crossed a line.
A previous incarnation of Joker? Okay, now it’s getting a bit confusingly meta for us. As for Ricky Gervais…well, actually you can go head and keep that one, you barbarians.