Thanks to The Penguin and Joker: Folie à deux, a major DC Comics location has somehow been made worse than it already was in under a month. Joker 2‘s divisive story was released worldwide on October 4 and furthered the story of Arthur Fleck from its 2019 predecessor. Meanwhile, HBO’s The Penguin began airing in September 2024 as a Batman-adjacent TV show set in the universe of Matt Reeves’ The Batman.

With the wait for The Batman – Part II‘s story ongoing, The Penguin is offering an insight into the more grounded, gritty, realistic version of Gotham that the first film introduced in 2022. Despite being set in another universe, Joker 2 was doing similar in many ways by exploring a less-exaggerated version of DC Comics’ iconic city. Interestingly, both The Penguin episode 4 and Joker 2 have taken an infamous location from the source material housed within Gotham – Arkham Asylum – and made it even worse than it already was, doing so with less than two weeks between each project.

Joker: Folie à Deux Highlighted Arkham Asylum’s Cruelty

Arkham Is Not Somewhere That Was Depicted Nicely In Joker 2

Firstly, Joker 2 delved into the bowels of Arkham Asylum via Arthur’s storyline. The ending of 2019’s Joker saw Arthur Fleck checked into Arkham for his actions as the eponymous clown, with Joker: Folie à Deux exploring his life in the iconic DC state hospital amid his court trial. Via the story of Joker 2, Arkham is painted in an incredibly dark light due to the other patients, Arthur’s quality of life, and, above all else, the treatment of these people by the guards responsible for rehabilitating them in Joker 2‘s cast.

Beginning with the general treatment of the Arkham patients, Joker 2 highlights how they are essentially a joke to the prison guards. Characters like Brendan Gleeson’s Jackie relentlessly torment Arthur and the other patients, even rewarding them with things like cigarettes if they lean into the mental health issues that saw them admitted to Arkham in the first place. This immediately dehumanizes the patients and certainly does not aid them in their quest for rehabilitation.

The following paragraph contains brief mentions of sexual assault.

More so than any other scene in Joker 2, this harsh atmosphere was highlighted when Arthur was sexually assaulted by Jackie and the other guards. Although this horrendous act was not shown on-screen, it was heavily implied and broke Arthur to the point where he sought help for his trauma and abolished the Joker persona. Above all else, this scene and its implications outlined that Arkham Asylum in the Joker universe is not a center for the helpful rehabilitation of its patients, but an environment of abuse and cruelty.

The Penguin Episode 4 Built On Joker 2’s Depiction Of Arkham

Sofia Falcone’s Arkham Journey Compounded How Awful Arkham Asylum Truly Is

While set in another universe as one of DC’s Elseworlds movies, The Batman also explored Arkham to an extent. The asylum was featured briefly at the end of the movie, with the film’s main villain, The Riddler, being sent there only to encounter Barry Keoghan’s Joker. This did not allow for much of an insight into Arkham itself, yet this was rectified in The Batman‘s spin-off show, The Penguin. The Penguin introduced the DC Comics character of Sofia Falcone a.k.a. The Hangman.

Played masterfully by Cristin Milioti in The Penguin‘s ensemble cast, Sofia Falcone has been one of the show’s standout characters. The Penguin episode 4 made this more true than ever by exploring that Sofia is not The Hangman at all, but that she was framed by her father and wrongfully sent to Arkham. The episode detailed this journey, exploring how The Penguin‘s version of the asylum is just as awful as Joker 2‘s, albeit in different ways.

Although those at Arkham Asylum in The Penguin are not shown as overtly abusive as Jackie and the guards in Joker 2, the abuse is nonetheless there in subtle ways. Immediately, Sofia is shown being roughly handled, stripped naked, sprayed with water, and thrown into a cell with no care for her well-being. After all, these patients are supposed to be those in need of care and rehabilitation, yet The Penguin highlights that Arkham is not the place for that.

Sofia’s Arkham storyline led to many
Easter eggs in The Penguin episode 4
, from the inclusion of a DC Comics thief like Magpie to a police officer from The Batman appearing to arrest Sofia.

As Sofia’s story unravels, it is clear that The Penguin‘s Arkham is actually the opposite of a recovery hospital, as how Sofia was treated causes her mental health to worsen. Admittedly, this is the case due to Carmine Falcone’s manipulation of Sofia’s key carers in Arkham. Regardless, the way Sofia and the other patients are treated is strikingly similar to Joker 2‘s exploration of Arkham and, while a degree more subtle, the abuse Arkham’s patients suffer is evident.

Was Arkham Asylum Always Bad In DC Comics?

Arkham Has Always Housed Unsavoury Batman Villains

The burning question about Arkham Asylum coming out of Joker 2 and The Penguin will be if it was always depicted as a cruel place in DC Comics. It is worth noting that, initially, Arkham was established to aid its patients. However, over time, the location became infamous for creating or housing several of Batman’s most iconic villains. From Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow and Hugo Strange to Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, Arkham has always had a bad reputation for creating some of the Caped Crusader’s biggest enemies. In this way, Joker 2 and The Penguin align with the source material.

How The DCU Can Build On Arkham Asylum In Live-Action

James Gunn’s Batman Movies Could Detail Arkham’s More Unrealistic Elements

With Joker: Folie à Deux and The Penguin delving into Arkham Asylum better than many other live-action Batman projects, the question turns to whether James Gunn’s upcoming DC movies will do the same. Gunn has confirmed that a new iteration of Batman will debut in The Brave and the Bold, though little else has been revealed about this project since. In a world that is very committed to depicting Batman with a realistic, gritty tone, many are hoping that the DCU’s first chapter, Gods and Monsters, will delve into the more comic-book aspects of Gotham’s Dark Knight.

The primary way in which Gunn’s Batman movies can do this is by showing Arkham’s more comic-book elements. Arkham is home to several villains and storylines that shows like The Penguin or movies with the tone of Joker 2 would never explore. Via the DCU, however, these plot points could be touched on. James Gunn has always been a filmmaker who delves into the more comic-book aspects of the source material, and he could do the same with The Brave and the Bold, taking the depiction of an infamous DC location into a new, exciting, but no less terrifying direction.