Joker Trailer Easter Egg Points Us To Another Batman Villain

After Warner Bros. unleashed two and a half minutes of glorious Joker footage in early April 2019, fans picked apart each scene, analyzed every frame, and watched the whole thing — multiple times and in slow-motion — in efforts to catch every subtle reference to pop culture and to Batman comics past.
People picked up on the wink at The King of Comedy with Robert De Niro's casting as a talk show host, the parallel to a classic Joker costume in the teaser's final shots, and the allusion to another famous pale-faced icon, Charlie Chaplin, with the banners hanging outside Wayne Hall.
What most may not have noticed the first, second, or tenth time around is that the Joker teaser also includes what could be an Easter egg for the Riddler, a longtime foe of Batman.
At the 57-second mark of the footage, during the scene in which Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck is standing in an elevator at Arkham State Hospital, viewers can spot green-ink graffiti on the wall behind him. Though the tag doesn't appear to hold any deeper meaning, that punctuation mark is intriguing, as it's the insignia of Edward Nygma, better known as the Riddler. Fans are beginning to think that this could mean the Riddler is hiding in the shadows of director Todd Phillips' version of Gotham City.
One of the famous baddies in the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, the Riddler has spent a ton of time locked up in Arkham Asylum — seemingly reimagined for Joker as Arkham State Hospital, which apparently counts Arthur Fleck as a regular visitor. That this sneaky green question mark appears not just anywhere but on an elevator in Gotham's home for the criminally insane adds some credence to the idea that the graffiti could be a legitimate Riddler Easter egg, and could portend an appearance by Nygma himself. That would, unquestionably, be an awesome surprise …
It wouldn't be the only clever nod to Batman comics featured in the new Joker footage — or the only one included in connection with Arkham State Hospital. Just after the camera sweeps across Gotham City in the first few seconds, the teaser shows Phoenix's Arthur sitting opposite a social worker, played by Sharon Washington. Her name tag reveals that her name is Debra Kane. If that surname sounds familiar, it's because it's the same one as Batman co-creator Bob Kane and as Batman's cousin Kate Kane, otherwise known as Batwoman.
There are a few other names revealed in the trailer that could be meaningful — or not. For example, there's street sign that reads "Jerome Avenue." The DC television series Gotham features a character named Jerome Valeska, who is a precursor to the Joker, much like Arthur Fleck is the man who eventually becomes the clownish criminal in the upcoming Joker movie.
Then there's the existence of Holmes Pharmacy, which appears 10 seconds into the teaser, when Arthur is walking down the street. Batman is known as the world's greatest detective — and so is Sherlock Holmes. With a little mental gymnastics, one could deduce that Joker including a pharmacy seemingly named for the other best fictional crime-solver on the planet might tease how Arthur's life connects with Bruce Wayne's. Or maybe the production designer just liked the look of the name "Holmes" on the sign!
Taking all this into account, it's clear how easy it is to make something out of what very well could be nothing. The green question mark inked on the Arkham State Hospital elevator is certainly interesting, but whether it's actually a Riddler Easter egg is anyone's guess. Could it be? Sure! Might it just be Todd Phillips wanting to tip his hat to the comics while keeping Joker its own outside-of-the-DCEU thing? Absolutely!
The beauty of this uncertainty is that fans now have yet another reason to look forward to Joker — beyond what looks to be a bang-up performance by Phoenix. When the film opens in theaters on October 4th, all questions shall be answered and all potential Easter eggs will, hopefully, be followed up on.

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