Would You Use A Bloom Seed?

I think the anti-Joker already exists: It's Ra's al Ghul. He's calm rather than chaotic, he's about control rather than anarchy, he's patient and thinks Big Picture rather than impulsively and in the moment.*(see amendment below) He sees Batman as kindred, whereas Joker sees Batman as the opposite who complements him. And he's soooo sssserioussss! (Ra's also likes to address Batman formally as "Detective" whereas Joker likes to address him informally like "Batsy")

He looks like if Slenderman dressed like steve jobs

An anti-Joker would have to be good, wear muted colors, and be somber, unostentatious, brooding, and ... you see where I'm going with this.

Imagine how terrifying Mr. Bloom would be in live action.

"I demand to be taken seriously" the anti joker

mr. bloom is the anti-joker because he's underexposed, unlike the joker who is overexposed

Bloom was very underrated, and it's sad no one's done anything with him since Snyder left. Unfortunately his purpose was to show how cool Batman is that he stopped him in a single issue after everyone else struggled for like 12 issues.

I think making Mr. Bloom into a kind of 'eldritch possessed' super-drug cult-leader character that exudes a kind of far-gone madness in juxtaposition to Joker's more focused chaos might have been more compelling. Make him into a meta-powered 'other' thing akin to a king-in-yellow analog. Still mortal and stoppable, but clearly attached to something WAY worse.

Ahhh Bloom I loved that guy. He was like an eldritch drug pusher . I haven't re read super heavy but that's how I remember him

Future writers should lean into the Lovecraftian aspects of the character. Not only does he look freaky, but make his goals and motivations unknowable and less political like a Lovecraft monster.

And here I've been thinking the "anti-Joker" was Jared Leto. The only thing that separates Mr. Bloom from the "normals", is one bad gardener.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Mr. Bloom, he was definitely one of my favorite new villains to come out of the New 52. His spindly design, his status as a super-drug dealer preying off the loss of the original Batman, and his rivalry against Jim Gordon during his time in the tights. However, I never really saw him as the “Anti-Joker” like Snyder billed him as; a cool antagonist for an experimental storyline, sure, but not nearly up to snuff with someone like Joker. Was happy to see him get some recent love in the Task Force Z storyline :)

I like Mr. Bloom but his twist identity reveal always felt like an afterthought. Though I think there’s a great opportunity to make him a reoccurring villain for Duke and some potential for very powerful storytelling.

I just imagine Batman encountering him in a dark alleyway in a more normal and human like form. He begins to give a speech similar to the one he gave to the citizens of Gotham. At the mid-way point of the speech, we watch as his fingers begin to grow and sharpen, followed by his arms growing to the point the all but drag along the floor. Then his legs begin to contort, twisting in ways that should make them break as they increase his height leading to his torso and neck beginning to stretch. By the end of the speech, Batman stares up in horror at the sky-scraper sized, human like monster that stares down at him.

Isn’t the whole point of Killing Joke is Joker proving to Batman that anyone could become him after just one bad day? He even tries to use Gordon to prove that point

I think what they were going for is that the Joker is too big a character for any writer to be able to stake a definitive claim on them, to say "this their origin, this is what makes them tick, everyone has to deal with that now". But with Mr. Bloom, they seem to be saying there isn't that much to Bloom as a character - that Mr. Bloom is more the expression of an idea (dissatisfaction with society) rather than a person, so while you CAN give them an origin, it won't really matter.

If Batman himself isn't the Anti-Joker, and he must be chosen from the Rogue's Gallery, the Ra's al Ghul is the Anti-Joker. He is the opposite of the Joker in almost every way, and haunts Batman just as deeply.

To me, Mr. Bloom is like Onomatopoeia. They both appeared for a brief period of time. We know almost nothing about their pasts. And they haven’t been since, except for small tie-in stuff that don’t do them justice. The only difference between them (except the obvious) is that Onomatopoeia has been adapted into live action but almost everything about the character was changed, apart from the wardrobe. Seriously, they literally could’ve replaced Onomatopoeia in the Superman & Lois show with Silver Banshee.

About the anti-Joker , there is,in my opinion, two. One is Lockup, who is more an agent of oppression and a minor villain. The second one is Ra's. His origin is very detailed , sometimes his motivation can be interpreted as eliminating the chaos, is secretive instead of over the top and , this is a stretch, Joker causes Batman to lose a son while Ra's through Talia give him one

Most random thought but I feel like Mr. Bloom would work great as a Dream Villain. He would be like a deep, dark thought that Bruce might have far in his mind about how anybody could one day become a villain for reasons that he may not understand because "they fell through the cracks". As this thought gets louder and louder, he would become bigger or more of him would appear as more Mr. Blooms rise up until Batman ultimately comes to a realization that so long as he or any other hero can serve as a symbol for hope, maybe people won't become a Mr. Bloom.

As typical Snyderisms go, it either works pretty well or not at all, and I think this is the latter. Isn’t the idea of ecosystems that plant life has to be communal in some sense? Plants that contribute to a larger biosphere work well, but an invasive species can throw it out of balance. So Mr Bloom should be preaching co-existence, saying that the corrupt of the city have uprooted (haha) the fine balance or society. And what does blowing up the city have to do with a well rounded world view? I like the idea of a plant villain being representative of what can happen when you don’t remain vigilant against the “cracks” of society. A small failing can become a horrid mess of weeds if not caught before-hand. Gets at a different angle of the unending war against crime, that once you get rid of it all, you can’t just leave the garden unattended as people or the systems can tend toward corruption if not watched. Hey, bring him back and do some other stuff with him. We’ve kinda lost Ivy as a villain, so we need another plant bad guy!

Mr. Bloom reminds me of a dark and gritty reboot of El Seed from The Tick lol

The why you described Mr. Bloom makes him sound better as a classic Chaos Rep in a Shin Magami Tense game. A creature preaches about how the stimming idea of Law unreliably restricts personal happiness and remedies this by gifting way to obtain personal power. Unfortunately they are happiness from a demon’s perspective that are more Mental Archetypes given flesh instead of bound directly to human perspective. Always anything is good and permissible as long as you are the strongest person, with eating some of the weak for more strength is just an inevitable quirk of the world.

The only Anti Joker is *The Creeper*

I would love eddy from abbot elementary to teach Bloom what gardening actually is

"Oh, no, they're the same again." Brilliant.

I do love his speech bubbles, it definitely sells his vibes

While you focussed on the ‘opposite of’ meaning of ‘anti-‘ there is another way it might be used in this context and that is ‘anti-‘ as in anti-hero and anti-villain. In both cases it doesn’t mean ‘opposite of hero’ or ‘opposite of villain’ or an inversion, but rather a character that plays the role of hero or villain (respectively) but does not have the typical traits associated with that role. So, an anti-Joker might also be a character that serves the same role as the Joker, but without (or possibly the opposite of) the typical traits of the Joker. And in this respect, Mr Bloom might be a sort of anti-Joker. In some iterations, Joker is an anarchist who just wants to ‘burn it all down’. Mr Bloom wants to ‘regrow it all’ after first slashing and burning what is there. In this way they serve a similar role (an antagonist seeking to destroy Gotham) but for different reasons and with different traits. However. I think even using this version of ‘anti-‘ he is a weak anti-Joker at best because I think he still isn’t well enough defined in terms of his traits and persona.

Mr.Bloom had some interesting aspects that could’ve made him a Poison Ivy 2.0. (Especially now, given how DC trying to push her into a hero role.) I can see the lovecraftian features mixed with the corruption allegory would work for an Arkham Game. This character could be a good foil for Superman. However, I feel like you to go hard on the horror angle to make that work. But that’s just me.

I like the creepy factor of Mr. Bloom- I wish they'd bring him back, maybe just changing a few things that didn't work the first time. I don't think they should just throw him away completely.

We need to see an animated feature length treatment of this character penned by better writers! Mr. Bloom just screams of explosive creative potential in an animated form! I want to see how he moves, how his petal face emotes, while being dignified with a better story! Also i want to see his powers interact with Poison Ivy's, on a small or large scale! Thanks for explaining this guy!

“ I beg your pardon, never promised you an anti Joker garden.”

I still don't know what's creepier, Mr. Bloom, or Jim Gordon without his moustache.

Maybe, they call Mr. Bloom as the anti-Joker because its the difference of the one bad day that created Joker while its the mere mundanity of life that can create a Mr. Bloom. Compare the story of the killing Joke were Joker tries to prove that anybody can become like him if they experience a bad enough day. (But then in that story Joker failed in his goal because Com. Gordon stayed sane and stuck to his moral.) While in the Superheavy arc, Mr. Bloom is just showing the citizens of Gotham how shitty their lives are and gives them a proposition to get powers to change their situation like the child that accepted the seed. Mr. Bloom actually succeeded in showing anybody can become him if just shown the proposition. Thats why I think Mr. Bloom can be labeled as the Anti-Joker, because anybody can become Mr. Bloom while nobody else can become the Joker.

I really like his monologue where he thanks the rich people for helping gotham while brutally murdering them and at the end thanking them to allow people like him to arise. The Sarcasm and his calmness did a really good job defining his character.

I always think bloom is terffriying in the concepts of addiction, he mostly fits well having people using drugs and being slowly rotted from the inside of the various chems they pump in, while at the same time feeding the very parasite that peddles them the poison, I think bloom should defiantly focus on addiction, if they do that and not sell bloom as the anti-joker he can be one of batman if not DC most iconic villains. he does not care about people, philosophy or even ideas, he just a parasite and only cares about selling his goods to many hapless victims.

part flower part Slenderman

Mr Bloom would make a cool Doom Patrol villain.

Mr. Bloom design and power wise can work as an Anti-Joker. The Joker is an eccentric man who wears colorful outfits that uses tools to accomplish his goals. Mr. Bloom has a much more subtle outfit choice, has superpowers, and has an overall less human appearance. The thing is both are working for chaos in one form or another. An Anti-Joker, in my opinion, would be more obsessed with the concepts of order and destiny. What if instead of anarchy, Mr. Bloom spread his seeds because he believed Gotham as a city was going against its destiny? What if he believed Gotham was supposed to be plagued by crime? What if he revealed himself in order to make sure Bruce would become Batman again? What if he fought for the continuation of Batman's crime fighting career, one where people continued to suffer and die, unable to escape the cycle of crime and violence, because fate says it so? And what if, even if he is defeated, he wins?

Didn't realize Mr. Bloom survived the new 52.

I think one way you could definitely view them in opposition is in HOW they approach their philosophies and world views. The Joker is usually very singular, they're the only one "in on the joke". He'll have henchmen and do villain team-ups of course, but even with Harley and Punchline, they were never entirely IN the Joker's "space". Meanwhile, Mr. Bloom was very much invested in getting as many people as he could to think like HE thinks. To a point of dependency and justification at some parts. He's desperate for other people to agree with him, and indeed it's a component of his power. The few times Joker HAS tried to spread his perspective to others (usually via chemical alteration), he's almost always disappointed they don't actually get it, or even finds them ANNOYING. Even during the period of "the Three Jokers" (which was still kinda dumb), there is an inherent friction at them trying to work together and move as a unit. It's almost unnatural.

Anti Joker could be bad. Auntie Joker... That could be even more horrifying. Especially if it's just Joker dressed up like a middle-aged aunt.

This feel poison Ivy and Joker poor science experiment It isn’t much anti-joker but mirror joker. If he stay with the idea of creating order, unifying people and as creepy has he appears.

Mr. Bloom IS underrated and really complex. Did a whole video on the Superheavy arc myself and loved it

Thanks for introducing me to this character! I love the idea of a villain whose villainy takes the form of empowering others to be their worst selves. Mister Bloom would work great as a metaphor for evil enablers and the criminal drug trade. As for an anti-Joker, I recently came to the conclusion that the Joker exploits and displays the ridiculous rules of society, especially society not killing him expressly because he is an INSANE murderer, rather than a logical one. An anti-Joker would be an oppressive authoritarian, a dark reflection of Bruce himself, exploiting power and authority to terrorize his victims into “being good”. Imagine someone who uncovers some forgotten document that gives them absolute legal authority over Gotham. Armed with technical legal and moral high ground, they set themselves up as a secret cop/judge/jury/executioner of Gotham. They could be used to examine the nature of the law and authority itself.

So Mr. Bloom is basically Slenderman with a flower on his face. So, Slenderman itself is like a weed that corrupts the children to do his bidding.

Every time you say, "Mr. Blue" ELO's Mister Sunshine pops up in my head. Thanks.

I love Mr. Bloom, he is one of my favorite villains that has been introduced in comics. I would love to see him make more appearances in cartoons or movies, but it's hard for new Batman villains to ever be chosen for adaptation because of how iconic the already established rogues are. I think he has a lot of potential, to be a villain from one of the Bat family members but I could see him working in other ways

I read Mr. Bloom in Joe Pera's voice. Steady, calm.

Sounds like they had an interesting concept with Mr bloom, but I'm not really seeing that actually play out in the character. The concept of a vilian that could be anyone, like anyone could end up becoming them, so even when beaten or unmasked that's not the end. Sort of a memetic being that continues to emerge from those "cracks" and the dissatisfaction. In a supper natural or "I'm Spartacus" people just taking the mantle up. Would be neat to see batman have to deal with a "symbol" as counter to his concept of having to become a symbol because a man can die but an idea lives on.

Anyone could be Mr Bloom with the right push? You mean, like... one bad day?

"Giving him an origin woukd almost cheapen him" and then Geoff Johns proceeds to push that the Killing Joke origin is the actual Joker origin

“One of?” There’s a reason he keeps winning Best Villain year after year. Why 2 separate actors won Academy Awards portraying him. The Anti-Joker looks like a Judge Dredd villain.

A cool “new” villain that nobody bothered to build on

As someone who likes Mr Bloom as a character I do understand the complexity of it but you need to replace the idea of him being an antithesis for him being a synthesis. In short the best way to understand it is joker is at his best when he is written with three core concepts as the foreground anonymity choas and the climax, a good joker forgoes the origin because it keeps you guessing his chaos is bombastic wild and always a spectacle and because of this you always know that Batman and the joker going to have to come to blows leading to the climax; however, mr bloom is those things in the background instead of three pillars on a stage you have an idea on a painting. Mr Bloom isnt just anonymity but paranoia he isn't just chaos but anarchy and with him it's not the climax but the suspense getting there. When Mr balloon does his thing not scared of him because you don't know his backstory but because anybody you know from the mailman that delivers your mail to your teacher to your neighbor can be Mr Bloom at any time, he's not just chaos he's anarchy so when he destroys its not to put on a show its to tear down the stage finally with joker it's all about the ending the last hurrah with Batman with bloom it's tension of what is he scheming what is his plan who will get hurt and what will be broken. I think when you look at Mr Bloom you need to not look at him as if he is the inverse of joker but the improvement of joker and I'm not saying he's better then joker more so he's more fine-tuning of his ideas to match a more adjusted and techy Batman. In short jokers ideaology and identity was the soil so bloom could achieve synthesis and he something more for a different batman

I think the idea with Mr. Bloom is that multiple people can take on the identity of Mr. Boom. The Joker is assumed to one person throughout every appearance, whereas Mr. Bloom is explicitly meant to be a persona that is adopted by a different person every time they appear.

S•U•P•E•R•H•E•A•V•Y was mentioned, so I am contractually obligated to watch. Fantastic video as always! Bloom has always been a fascinating villain who imo needs more appearances. Would love to see you tackle more DCYOU stuff!

Oh yay, you used "the spooky voice". I'll always remember it from your Corpse Factory LP. 😅

I always click on your videos bc they are well made and up my alley as far as content. ...but I also just wanted to say that your use of colors in your background when you are talking in combination with your personal style are really striking aesthetically It actually transitions really well to the comic book panels which obviously have specific color choices. And these small things make your videos seem a bit more curated than the average comic book channel. "Visually pleasing with great commentary." That is how I would describe your channel. A million thumbs up

"Dead flower dolls." That's a morbidly beautiful description. Also, I feel like he would work better if he was an entity rather than a metahuman; something that feeds off the misery of a hopeless existence and the rot of the human soul.

...wait, Jim Gordon was Batman? I love the design of Bloom, very creepy and creative! He feels like a corrupted eldrich life coach.

Partway through your reading of the actual Anti-Joker response, I realized that Snyder was essentially saying all it takes is One Bad Day for anyone to become Mr. Bloom, which was already a recurring theme of the Joker's. I think Mr. Bloom is the Anti-joker in how he operates though. Joker seems to be by-and-large a solo act with occasional backup, but Mr. Bloom specifically went about things in a "it's better for the people this way" fashion.

The worst villains are the ones that never shut up. And he looks like he could be taken out with one punch.

Maybe Mister Bloom is the Anti-Joker because he's (slightly) inspired by actual Anarchistic thoughts, as opposed to Jokers Pop culture Anarchy? 🤔

Mr. Bloom is definitely my favorite comic villain to come out of the modern age. He really feels like an eldritch cryptid like creature that fits perfectly in batman's rouges gallery. He isn't a replacement for some status qoue or a rework of something that already exists. He feels like his own thing.

i love how everything about mr bloom is confusing like its on purpose, like his entire existence is to confuse you to increase the freak factor

“Anyone can be Mr bloom with a good push” gee, that sounds an awful lot like “it just takes one bad day”

Ah, Scot Snyder... I used to think he was the next Warren Ellis... Man did he go hard on proving me and everyone that thought like me wrong.

I love the Superheavy arc so much, thank you for covering it! It always sucks to like a flawed thing that falls apart with scrutiny. Snyder's run, to me, is some of the best-written Batman (up there with Morrison)--I love his take on the character and this arc in particular felt like such a fresh new landscape combined with Grayson and We Are Robin--but this chapter is undeniably the least coherent in its philosophy, and I never totally got what it was trying to say. There are so many good moments that stand on their own, though--Gordon's suit contrasts so well with the spindly Mr. Bloom look, I love Bruce and Julie's playground made from the old Batcave trophies, I love when amnesia Bruce meets amnesia Joker by the place where they died, I love Duke's renegade Robin fit, I love the moment where Duke takes Bruce down to the subway to face his fears and he sees the oncoming train as a giant bat, and I always choke up at how tragic it is when Bruce finally remembers and confronts unwilling Alfred saying "take me to my cave." Now I'm just rambling. So many good moments, but you're right that they could all be tightened up--Bloom's garden warfare allegory is great, but doesn't really take root below the surface (I tried)

I think the "Anti-Joker" thing does work in a sense. Because only The Joker can be The Joker, The Killing Joke proves this to a degree, it's not just one bad day to become like him, it's the right set of circumstances. Where as Mr Bloom, anyone could become like him, the hundreds, thousands of people disillusioned with life and the way the world is, any of them could pick up a seed and a hood and do what he does.

I always thought of Mr. Bloom's msg as being rebuilding a better society where everyone is a monster so everyone is equal, with Joker's normally wanting to collapse or twist the current society.

The idea that he can come from anywhere is actually kind of fascinating sort of playing into the fact that he’s based on a weed

When he’s preaching to Batman about joining him and taking the city, I just think “Green Goblin” lol

The thumbnail made me realize I want to see more horror comics and storylines covered on this channel.

Blooms whole "The system is rotted, everyman should fight for what they want" is kinda similar to Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

I didn't even know homie existed until today. This might be my new favorite DC character.

I can see Mr. Bloom coming into the Reeve's Batman film series with him being introduced with the song Where Evil Grows by the Poppy Family as a litemotif

Something that's interesting: in Greek, the prefix 'anti' doesn't only mean against, it means 'to try to take the place of.' This almost describes Mr. Bloom: he's trying to take the place of the Joker for Jim Gordon.

So from what I gathered from the interview’s answer is the Mr Bloom isn’t an Anti-Joker. He’s an Anti-Spider-Man. The idea that anyone can be under the mask.

Auntie Joker? Wouldn't that be like old Harley from that Batman Beyond video?

I would have loved if mr bloom had kept going, spread beyond gotham and gotten swampthings attention and given us a classic batman swampthing crossover. Im always looking for another “garden of earthly delights” mashup

I feel like if Blooms message was more of an anti-superhero thing (a sort of “their existence makes you complacent, but now I give you the power that they have) kind of thing, it would have really worked Doubly so because you could then turn the “a garden is warfare” message into “a garden is oppression and subservience”, which seems to fit a lot better for his philosophy

The only way I can see he's kind of an anti-Joker is if he's an anarchist who's actually trying to give power to the people, rather than one who just wants to burn it all down or be at the top of the heap. I really like that his powers are vague and seem to be just based on what looks cool, or what it looks like he could do. Like how a kid would play with a toy

Superman, that's the anti-Joker

I think he'd be better if he was quieter, the intentions behind the flower kept quiet, go further into those eldritch elements, make it almost unknowable. I could imagine just how scary he'd be if he just didn't ever speak, he could, but often just stares, silently, only speaking to influence those around them. i think that'd play to the strengths of that horror design, rather than a strongly spoken villain. Can you imagine, someone just asking "why?" and it doesn't respond, maybe doesn't even acknowledge their existence at all

I remember reading the headline back in 2015 but didn't bother reading the interview. As read through the story arc I tried to see how Mr. Bloom is the anti-joker. From my point of view he was anti-joker because he was spreading his seeds, then encouraging people to find it them and carpe diem basically. Mr. Bloom was trying to inspire people into choosing power for themselves. Joker on the other hand is trying to make people go crazy by causing them to have "one bad day" or forcing insanity through joker gas. Aside from that they didn't seem to be very opposite of each other.

I think Mr Bloom's strongest attributes are his cosmic horror design and his use of the seeds, Amost like a drug pusher. Tempting the mistreated citizens of gotham with a chance for power and autonomy but ultimately using them to benefit himself. With that said, he'd be much better left ambigious imo but still mortal enough to be stopped in some way. I really hope a future writer brings him back and explores more, because he has serious potential.

No mainstream comic writer has any business talking about anarchism. Mr. Bloom is just subjugating people in a different way than the people he claims to oppose. One big charismatic leader. I think there are probably a million ways to be an anti-joker you'd just need to pick a joker, take a distinct quality (or set of qualities) to apply directly to this new character, and then make the reasoning for it, or the method by which that quality is applied the opposite, or at least in opposition. Maybe they're absurdist, chaotic and anti-establishment, but they have a ton of empathy and never hurt anyone. Maybe they're murderous and unhinged, but they are very pro-establishment. On second thought though, maybe neither of those ideas are ones mainstream comic writers should touch either, especially not in a batman comic.

The way you voiced Bloom made me think about Jerome Valeska from Gotham. Really cool interpretation!

Anti-joker, not to be confused with The Pun-isher. .... I'll let myself out...

Honestly, Bloom is a character that really just needed more time to bake. They could have easily gone for a path which merged Joker and Ivy's characters into 1 identity, and it would make sense too considering the design. The poisoned darkness of Joker with the plantlike motifs of Ivy are something that really should be more closely studied.

Mr. Bloom is such an awesome villain. The first issue he was in was epic to me

Aunty Joker for Uncle Batman Jim Gordon

I could see Mr. Bloom making a comeback in a story involving The Scarecrow (the story would probably be called The Harvest or Dark Harvest). It could be a team up between the 2 or a twist where one is trying to steal the others abilities/equipment to tweak and make something of their own. I feel like bloom could have used even a really weak version of the toxin to really convince people to slam those seeds and I’m sure scarecrow would absolutely love to add some practical use to the straw he stuffs in his suit lol

I would love to see a video where you further explore what an anti-Joker might look like. To do that, I think you have to define the Joker in some way. Here are my thoughts. Core Attributes of the Joker: - One bad day: everyone is just one bad day from becoming a monster; he wants people to see and embrace that almost as a philosophy or lifestyle - Anarchy: the strictures of society are arbitrary and illusory; order and morality are self-imposed prisons best abandoned - Non-superpowered: he doesn't need powers to terrorize you; shocking unpredictability is far scarier than raw strength or speed - Mocking irony: he delivers his message not through grim monologues; sarcasm and humor are more effective ways to defuse haughty self-righteousness and break through social programming Given those core attributes, an anti-Joker would invert at least one of them, ideally all of them. They would view people not as always on the verge of flipping to evil, but rather as inherently and ineluctably good or evil. They would emphasize order not as a social construct but as a fundamental basis of reality such that it could never be abandoned. They would have overwhelming power that obviated the need for subterfuge and would take themselves seriously without frivolity or irony. I think that paints a reasonably coherent picture that suggests a few contenders. It would be fairly easy to assume the Anti-Joker must be a hero since he is a villain. The obvious choice is, of course, Batman because the Joker is often portrayed or almost defined as his antithesis. If you relax that presumption, though, and focus on the core attributes, I think Superman fits the bill better even than Batman. He is a source of irrepressible optimism about people and their potential regardless of how many bad days they face. He dutifully enforces truth, justice, and the American way, rarely if ever questioning the viability of those ideals. He is arguably the most superpowered of heroes, the very template for all other superheroes, and although not humorless, he tends to play things painfully straight. In at least those ways, Superman is the Joker's opposite. I think that is actually why pitting them against each other is rare and usually pretty boring. The Joker has no purchase on Superman. Unlike Batman, there is no thread to pull that might conceivably collapse Superman's carefully constructed persona (Injustice notwithstanding). The two are so different and Superman is so incorruptible that there are no stakes in such a battle. It is more fun, and more consistent with your original video, to ponder a villainous anti-Joker, and I think the best option is Apocalypse. He believes in a clear-cut, rigid hierarchy based on survival of the fittest. Trauma doesn't reveal your underlying depravity, it gives you an opportunity to prove your mettle. People basically are who they are - either weak or strong - and the strongest are born that way as mutants, not shaped by their experiences (good days or bad). He might not care for artificial morality, but instead of embracing anarchy, he seeks a more primal evolutionary order that transcends it. When it comes to power, Apocalypse has not just one mutant ability, but a huge array of them. He rarely has to trick anyone or play games, preferring to exercise his vast powers directly and unabashedly. He is also almost always deadly serious without an iota of jocularity or playfulness. As opposites, I find it difficult to imagine the Joker and Apocalypse working well together. The Joker would find him boring and intractable while Apocalypse would find him fatuous and weak. Anyway, that's just one way to think about it. Other core attributes and villainous or heroic comparisons might be just as valid. Someone else in the comments suggested Ra's al Ghul, for example, and I think a good case could be made for him as the anti-Joker. I'd love to hear your analysis!

Bloom's philosophy about cities being gardens of suffering is ripped right out of the real world. We all suffer so that a few can grow beyond nature's rules.

Please, do a video on the Gardener next! 🙏🌷🌹🌻

If I had to BS a reason for why he could be an "anti-Joker" it would maybe be that Joker's whole thing seems to be "destroy society for the heck of it, ruin everyone's lives because life is meaningless" where bloom seems to go more in the direction of "destroy society because it makes life more fair and will 'help' people." One wants chaos just for the sake of chaos while the other wants chaos because they have some twisted idea that is somehow the better way for people to live. I don't know though, I never knew this character existed until watching this video so I'm just basing this on what I understand from this video. That said, his design is really cool and might be one of my new favorite batman villain designs.

In my opinion, the closest we could have had to an anti-Joker is Killer Moth. The character gets dunked on a lot in more recent comic commentaries but he’s the anti-Batman. Who does for villains what Batman does for the innocent. There’s so much potential there that could make him the true antithesis of both Batman and Joker at the same time.