Batman: Under the Red Hood is a masterclass on how to tell a compelling, tragic, and epic Batman story. While the animated movie version has overshadowed the comic book it was adapted from, both versions are still well regarded as some of the greatest Batman content ever.
There are many who would even say that the movie version is flawless, but upon my millionth rewatch of the movie, an idea came to me that changed my outlook on Red Hood's endgame of getting The Joker out of Arkham to kill him. A great plan, but I see two ways this plan could've backfired in a big way, and with that in mind, let's look at why those ways probably shouldn't have worked.
Explanation of Plan and Resolution
Once, Jason Todd was the second person who took up the mantle as Robin, and his time as the Boy Wonder was met with criticism and backlash from within the DC Universe and from fans alike. Bruce Wayne felt that Jason had potential, but his attitude toward life and the criminals they fought on a daily basis made Jason an unpredictable liability in some cases.
It didn't end well for the character as Jason would end up being captured and nearly beaten to death by The Joker in the Death in the Family storyline, and fans even had a choice as to whether he would survive or not within the story. Fans chose to let Jason die, and for many years the character remained dead. But in the world of superhero comics, nothing and nobody stays dead forever.
While the Under the Red Hood comic and movie adaptation share the same common themes, they are both very different stories with how certain scenes played out (and not forgetting the inclusion and exclusion of some characters). But let's talk about the movie for now, because it's the one that most people know and it played out Jason's resurrection in a much better way.
Ra's al Ghul, one of Batman's most deadly enemies, had a hand, although indirectly, in Jason's death, and despite his villainous ways, he sought to right the wrong he had done to Batman by bringing back his surrogate son through the means of the Lazarus Pit. The Pit sustained al Ghul's life for centuries, but it wasn't until Jason's death that he used the Pit to resurrect the dead, which wasn't proven until he revived Jason.
After Jason was revived, he realized that Batman's methods of fighting crime were ineffective, and that the only way to truly stop crime is to control it, and so, he set out to not only prove Batman wrong, but to get some much needed revenge on the monster that killed him, The Joker.
After weeks of conflict, Jason under the moniker of the Red Hood, got his rival, Black Mask, to become so desperate that he'd use whatever means necessary to kill the Red Hood once and for all. Black Mask sought the aid of the Joker by releasing him from Arkham Asylum, but he was betrayed by the Clown Prince of Crime and almost killed at his hands. Batman intervened and saved Black Mask, while Red Hood kidnapped The Joker and recreated what the villain did to him by nearly beating him to death. After that, he and Batman fought, and eventually Jason was seemingly killed again in an explosion he set up, with Batman and Joker being the only survivors.
While Jason's plan to get Joker out of Arkham on the surface seemed like a really ingenious idea, I've come to the conclusion that it shouldn't have worked at all, or it should've been done differently.
Red Hood could have gotten himself into Arkham if he wanted to
Jason as Red Hood sought to control crime rather than fight against it, but his main obstacle in achieving that goal was Black Mask, the only criminal to have had control over the entire city. While his operation started small, Jason managed to sway some of Black Mask's top men onto his side, as well as gaining territory from the villain through murder and mayhem. He even had the chance to kill Black Mask outright, but the flaw with Jason's overall plan is that it was all a front in a sense.
Sure, he did want to control crime, but his true endgame was to get Black Mask so desperate for aid that he would turn to a psychopath like The Joker and get him out of Arkham so that Red Hood could take him down himself.
If Jason didn't focus on getting the Joker out, he might've succeeded in controlling the criminal underworld of Gotham and have had the reach that Black Mask had. He should have saved his revenge on The Joker until after he cemented his rule over Gotham's criminals, but Jason was too impatient and sought to use Black Mask's resources and desperation to get Joker out.
Even though Jason could have done more, I think his overall plan was very much aligned with his character; he was impulsive, arrogant, and ruthless, and those qualities were carried over and kicked up to 100 when he became Red Hood. So, from a story standpoint, it was all very accurate to Jason's character, but that in and of itself made his plan doomed to fail.
Black Mask could have (and probably should have) chosen another villain
The Joker is one of Batman's most dangerous and iconic villains, but I would argue that he shouldn't have been Black Mask's top choice when it came hiring one of The Dark Knight's rogues to kill Red Hood.
Batman has one of the most iconic rogues gallery in all of fiction, and the vast majority of them have been confined in Arkham's walls more than once. Black Mask could have - and probably should have - picked other villains to kill Red Hood, and these four picks would have been more effective for his needs: Mr. Freeze, Bane, Clayface, or Poison Ivy.
I think Black Mask should've used one of Batman's villains that has powers or at least special weapons. After all, Bane is one of the few villains to have utterly defeated Batman in the past, and Clayface who can change into anyone or turn any part of himself into a weapon; these are attributes that would have made them more suited to taking down a threat like Red Hood.
There are probably other villains who would've fit the bill better than Joker too, but those four are an example of that, highlighting that Red Hood's overall plan would have fallen through entirely if Black Mask had chosen any one of them to carry out his mission.
What do you think? Given the choice, which villains would you haven chosen to take on Red Hood in Batman: Under the Red Hood?