Young Jack Napier's sidekick

[Bobthegoon89]

Lots of people have claimed the other gunman who accompanies Jack Napier in the murder of the Wayne's is Joe Chill. Personally I always thought this was merely an attempt to try and align the origin more with the comics.

I actually always believed as a kid this second gunman was in fact......Bob the goon as a younger man!

There is no evidence either way to suggest the identity (nothing is in the credits as "Young Bob") but there seems to be clues. Jack and Bob clearly always trusted one another and you can imagine them coming up together in the underworld as teens. They also seem to be around the same ages.

The biggest evidence I have to suggest this theory is a line uttered by Bob at Axis Chemicals: "C'mon Jack let's go!". Not a special line but in the Wayne murder scene this second mugger panics and then yells: "C'mon man let's go, let's go Jack!". I doubt it was intended as a signpost for later in the film but it's pretty coincedental and something Bob actually says. The fact he has a tendency to panic also is seen in the scene where he runs off from a challenge by Batman.

[Paul (ral)]

I believe it is Bob.

However I have a magazine interview from 1989 with Michael Uslan who says it is Joe Chill.

[The Dark Knight]

I believe it is Bob.

So do I.

[thecolorsblend]

I had to get on the Internet to find out there was an alternative point of view about it. I always assumed it was Bob too. Bob was always Jack's man in my view, even before Jack was the boss.

[Bobthegoon89]

Nah there really is a lot of fans who argue it's Joe Chill. Not sure why they ever assumed that.

Having it be Bob not only is cooler it makes more sense. Also suggests a whole sick backstory to the Joker's past. He's always been a bad seed with evil ties.

I agree with Alex Ross who felt the movies origin always made more sense to the character than Alan Moore's idea. But you try arguing that to the "no mercy" type Bat fans who feel any deviance from comics creativity is sacreligious lol

I always had trouble believing a decent family guy became a mass murderer through even as terrible a tradgegy as the one in Killing Joke. I actually wish we could have found out even more about Napier's past in the film. All we get is the police report stuff Bruce reads ("Assault with a deadly weapon age 15...").

Similarly how can Ledger buffs argue that he's more lethal and less silly than Nicolson's??? Nicholson's is still pretty lethal if not more so. It's all there just developed as backstory and leaving an audience to fill the gaps themselves. I find that more creative and inventive personally. I'm a firm believer that newer fans need to look deeper into the Burton films to find the psychological depth that Nolan slaps in your face in bucket loads of sign posting.

[The Dark Knight]

Having it be Bob not only is cooler it makes more sense. Also suggests a whole sick backstory to the Joker's past. He's always been a bad seed with evil ties.

Yes, exactly. A constant in his life, before and after the accident. Making Bob's death all the more poignant.

I always had trouble believing a decent family guy became a mass murderer through even as terrible a tradgegy as the one in Killing Joke. I actually wish we could have found out even more about Napier's past in the film. All we get is the police report stuff Bruce reads ("Assault with a deadly weapon age 15...").

Again, exactly. Jack's Joker having a mobster past shows he's street wise and gives us some grounding.

Jack's Joker kills a lot of people and takes joy in it. Viewing it as artistic expression.

[Bobthegoon89]

I always figured Napier was similar to real life killers like British serial killer (and one step away from Joker psychoticness) Ian Brady for instance. A guy I find repulsively evil and deranged beyond all measures.

Y'know, a guy who has had severe issues practically from the day he set foot on the world, leaving you little doubt he would eventually become what he became infamous for. Not just because of an accident/tragedy, but because frankly his mindset was already set towards that path in life. Bruce even states of Napier "his head is full of bad wiring" for example.

[thecolorsblend]

I agree with Alex Ross who felt the movies origin always made more sense to the character than Alan Moore's idea. But you try arguing that to the "no mercy" type Bat fans who feel any deviance from comics creativity is sacreligious lol

I understand and relate to that mentality though because deviation often feels like the filmmakers are taking a superior attitude, as if they have to "fix" or "improve" the source material in order for it to be credible.

Similarly how can Ledger buffs argue that he's more lethal and less silly than Nicolson's??? Nicholson's is still pretty lethal if not more so. It's all there just developed as backstory and leaving an audience to fill the gaps themselves. I find that more creative and inventive personally. I'm a firm believer that newer fans need to look deeper into the Burton films to find the psychological depth that Nolan slaps in your face in bucket loads of sign posting.

Hmm, well, let's see.

Jack Napier shot a father and mother to death in front of their 8 year old son... and had to be talked out of blowing him too.

Ledger burned a pile of money.

[BatmAngelus]

Jack Napier shot a father and mother to death in front of their 8 year old son... and had to be talked out of blowing him too.

Ledger burned a pile of money.

To be fair, Ledger burned a man to death on that pile of money while ordering another man to be chopped up and fed to his dogs.

As for the sidekick, it's probably Bob.  The actor doesn't look much like Tracey Walter, but then again Hugo Blick was probably hired more for his resemblance to the comic book Joker than he was to Jack Nicholson.  But, as Paul said, there's Uslan's statements and his introduction in the Batman and The Fifties collection that the second mugger was added so that fans could interpret him to be Joe Chill.

[The Joker]

Since we never get a name, count me in as another that always assumed the fellow was Bob.

With Jack Napier essentially stepping into the role of Joe Chill by killing Bruce's parents in the flashback, my impression was that having Joe standing right beside Jack with this surprised look on his face following the shootings of the Wayne's, is a acknowledgement to the character, but ultimately unnecessary. In the narrative, we see that Bob is incredibly dedicated to Jack/Joker throughout the film, and my impression was that dedication stemmed from years of prior amity between the two.

But if Mr. Ulsan says it's Joe. OK.