#idk. the way Batman as a character is constructed requires a character like Joker. a shadow

[distort-opia]

Honestly the only thing DC could do that would really shock me and get me invested in reading comics again, is if after "Batman/Joker: Deadly Duo", the writers give Joker a full blown redemption arc and then have him be a solidly good character for at least an entire decade. It worked with Venom in Marvel comics, so why not?

Ngl, I'd also be very shocked if they tried to redeem Joker. Not because it's actually impossible, but because Joker is such an iconic villain for DC, and this kind of thing might detract from that and make him less popular for a specific fandom demographic. And then you have the side of DC fandom (more on Tumblr and Twitter) that absolutely hates Joker; they'd likely revolt if DC gave Joker a genuine redemption story. After all, look at what happened to Kylo Ren :)) But leaving that aside, DC has elevated Joker (if that's the right word) to such an Evil status that they can just slide him in whatever story requires someone to do Something Horrible and Unspeakable To Cause Drama -- and his usefulness in this department might be too valuable to dillute.

And also, I guess they went a bit this route already? With Batman: White Knight (my beloathed) and The Harley Quinn Show. Even though the version of Joker in these stories is not... actually comic-book Joker, he still got redemption arcs in them, and recently. Don't know if DC would want to bring this to the main continuity; but I'll admit, I'm squinting suspiciously at the fact they supposedly revealed Joker's real name, and Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing. Maybe they have something interesting in store regarding Joker's character. Showing him conflicted or struggling with depression would be great, it would deepen his current portrayal a lot more. They haven't done that in a while. I guess we'll have to wait and see how they depict Joker in Batman/Joker: Deadly Duo and The Man Who Stopped Laughing especially... that'll give a better indication of the direction they're taking him in.

...To be fully honest though, I personally don't want Joker to be redeemed and made a good guy. He works best as a villain. There's a lot of problems with his current portrayal, but if they managed to fix that and give him more depth, I think he should keep being Batman's main antagonist. Thing is, if Batman can't ever stop being Batman, Joker should not stop being Joker. Sure, showing Joker struggle with who he is and what he wants would be great (much like they do with Bruce), but just like they never let Bruce choose anything else but Batman, Joker should not veer off his own path either. They're fated to be enemies, despite the... at-this-point-kinda-canon soulmate aspect.