Warning! Spoilers ahead for Absolute Batman #1!The Absolute Joker is here, and he's switching up his usual dynamic with Batman. After the explosive developments of DC All In Special #1, the Absolute Universe has arrived, and it's giving fans a truly upside down Gotham with a new take on the Clown Prince of Crime.

In the wake of DC's summer event, Absolute Power, the Prime Earth has been separated from the multiverse except for the new working-class Batman, they also get a glimpse of a Joker who's richer than ever.

DC Introduces Its Absolute Joker, A Billionaire Criminal

One of the Thirty Richest Men on Earth

In Absolute Batman #1 by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles, MI6 agent Alfred Pennyworth returns to Gotham for the first time in years. After settling in and reacquainting himself with the city, Alfred returns to his base and discusses his mission with his superiors. Alfred is in the city to spy on and gather intelligence about a gang known as the Party Animals, as well as the mysterious new vigilante that's popped up in Gotham. Alfred, however, is miffed, having been taken away from his previous mission hunting down a mysterious target.

...so rich no one even knows his real name...

Alfred spends the next few days in Gotham and eventually gets to see Batman in action when the Party Animals attack a town hall meeting. After the vigilante successfully drives away the gang, Alfred attempts to engage with Batman, only for the hero to knock Alfred back and steal one of his guns. Alfred investigates and discovers that Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, a civil engineer with a harrowing upbringing. Alfred eventually tracks Bruce down to his hideout in an unfinished tower, but again, Batman is too wily for Alfred to deal with.

To make matters worse, the target Alfred had been tracking for five years is missing. Though Alfred doesn't give a name, he reveals his target trained with Henri Ducard and the League of Assassins (before killing every single one of them. Miles away in Manilla, two men in a helicopter discuss their employer, one of the richest people on the planet (so rich no one even knows his real name). When one of the pilots cracks a joke, his partner tells him not to do that since their employer never laughs, which is why he's simply known as the Joker.

Why is Everything So Different in the Absolute Universe?

Darkseid's Design, a World Built on Turmoil

The birth of this new world can be traced back to Amanda Waller who, in a mad attempt to bring the metahumans under control, stole their powers and had the hero community arrested en masse. However, it wasn't enough for Waller to simply bring one world under her thumb, and she started working on plans to conquer the entire multiverse. To achieve this, she had some of the smartest supervillains build a multiversal gate that allowed Waller to recruit an entire army from the Prime DC Universe's neighboring worlds.

Yes, the Flash had to make the tough call of separating Prime Earth from the Multiverse in Absolute Power #4.

Fortunately, the heroes were able to stop Waller's plans and destroy the multiversal gate, but it wasn't without consequences. By destroying Waller's device, the DC Universe became shut off from the greater multiverse. Within days, this began to drive Darkseid insane as his power became too concentrated in one being. He tracked down and fused with the Spectre and attacked the Justice League, who separated the two. Though it appeared that the villain had died, Darkseid's energy broke through reality and transferred to a new, impressionable universe.

As Darkseid's energy flowed into this new world, it shaped reality around his ideals and belief. The timeline cooled and though it somewhat resembled the DC Universe fans know and love, it was a much darker and challenging place. Here in the Absolute Universe, hope is the underdog while turmoil and strife are fundamentally baked into this world's nature. Yes, it has a Wonder Woman, a Superman, and a Batman, but they lack most of the familiar trappings associated with their Prime Universe counterparts.

Absolute Joker Completely Flips His Dynamic with Batman

Society's Thoughts About Billionaires Have Shifted

One of the biggest selling points about the new Absolute Batman was that this was a variant that notably lacked the privileged upbringing and finances that Prime Batman has. Given that the Joker is usually the Dark Knight's diametric opposite, it stands to reason that the Joker of this world would have all the wealth and status that Bruce doesn't have in the Absolute Universe. If anything, the Absolute Joker is ludicrously more wealthy than Batman has ever been presented on the Prime Earth.

...being ultra-rich back in the day seemed like a cool, fun thing, but times change...

The last several years have seen an increase of criticism towards billionaires and Batman hasn't been safe from the discourse among certain fans. Absolute Batman doesn't shy away from this issue, it just tweaked things slightly to better reflect society's attitude towards the obscenely rich. Batman is reinvented as more of a people's hero, while the Joker is as bad as a billionaire could be, using his funds to finance the worst crimes imaginable. It's a bold twist on the two's canon, but one that's perfectly appropriate for what the Absolute Universe is supposed to be.

Darkseid's world is meant to be oppressive and hopeless, so that the heroes have no choice but to fail. In reality, a lot of people do feel like things are kind of impossible with billionaires hoarding wealth and gaming the system to their advantage. Yes, being ultra-rich back in the day seemed like a cool, fun thing, but times change and extravagance, decadence, and greed just rub people the wrong way. In a world where Batman's more like the 99%, it makes so much sense that the Absolute Joker embodies the dark side of wealth.

Does Absolute Batman Have a Chance of Defeating the Absolute Joker?

Working Class Hero vs the One Percent of the One Percent

The Prime Universe Bruce regularly struggles to keep his more 'down-to-Earth' Joker down, so it's hard to imagine how the Absolute Batman can defeat a Joker with an ungodly amount of money at his disposal. That said, this Batman is brutal, brilliant and resourceful, so he might have a shot. Then again, he's rich enough to evade Alfred for five years running, so Batman's probably going to need some help. But who knows, this Absolute Joker may have a few more surprises up his sleeve other than a grotesque amount of money.

Absolute Batman #1 is available now from DC Comics.