What do Vandal Savage, Ra's Al Ghul and the Joker have in common? A lot more than pasthistory would have you believe. According to, Vandal Savage acquired his immortality from the radiation of a mysterious meteorite that fell to Earth in the prehistoric era. Ra's Al Ghul apparently bathes in a "corrupted version" of the chemical/radiation. And the Joker, as told in Snyder's Batman #38 also encountered the meteorite before Gotham was ever born. That's right, the Joker is immortal. It's a clever retcon to explain how the Joker bounces back time after time from all the punishment Batman dishes out. As explained in Batman #38, the chemical only activates in the Joker at moments of extreme physical injury, otherwise the chemical is undetectable.

"For me, I wanted to make something that felt real and was believable, while at the same time was mythologically big and epic, the way the story is, so that it is material that might have been here and might have done this to Vandal Savage and might be the basis for the Lazarus Pit, or Electrum -- which is what keeps the Owls coming back from the dead, the Talons. It might have something to do with other figures as well, for Solomon Grundy... I wanted to create something that links all that. So the Joker says, "I knew this. I knew this part of it. I'm older than Gotham. I'm the Pale Man that walks these shores, and I've seen all of it. I'm the immortal person here. You are nothing. I let you believe it for a little while because I wanted you to come with me and become something important, but you had your chance in Death of the Family, and you threw me off a goddamn cliff. So... you're done."

And this origin for the Joker goes all the way back to "Death of the Family" according to Snyder., he stated,

What do you think of Joker's new origin? Do you think it will last? Or will someone come along after Snyder and retcon his work? Sound of below in the comment section!