Penny Fleck

"Thomas Wayne is a good man."

- Penny Fleck about Thomas Wayne.

Penny Fleck is the overall main antagonist of the 2019 psychological thriller film Joker, a DC Comics stand-alone film based on the character of the same name, which is the first installment of the newly launched DC Black film series, which is entirely separate from the DC Extended Universe.

Penny Fleck is the adoptive mother of Arthur Fleck, a mentally unstable failed comedian whose lack of success and respect triggers his transformation into the Joker. Much like her son, Penny is a mentally ill woman who was responsible for letting her former boyfriend abuse Arthur in his childhood and was temporarily sent to the Arkham State Hospital for her claims of having an affair with Thomas Wayne.

She was portrayed by Frances Conroy as an adult, while her younger self was portrayed by Hannah Gross.

Biography
TBA

Personality
Penny is not mentally well as a person as she possibly has schizophrenic and narcissistic tendencies hinted in the film. She is shown to be neglectful as she didn't save Arthur as a child from his abuse, it's unknown why she didn't but it's presumed she was abused by him as well, causing her mental problems.

While she cares about her son, she has shown to lie to him multiple occasions which leads to her downfall.

Trivia

 * Penny Fleck marks the second time in Batman media where the Joker's mother has appeared, especially given that the Joker's origins are a mystery as well his own name in the mainstream comic book continuity. The first time was in the television show Gotham, which featured Lila Valeska as the mother of the Valeska Twins: Jerome Valeska (the precursor of the Joker) and Jeremiah Valeska (The Joker). Even so, however, it's left ambiguous whether Penny adopted Arthur or if she was indeed Arthur's biological mother and his adoption was fabricated.
 * In Alan Moore's 1988 critically acclaimed Batman: The Killing Joke comic book one-shot (where the Joker was depicted as a failed stand-up comedian like in the 2019 film), the Joker is supposedly revealed to have been married to a woman named Jeannie with whom he was to have a child until Jeannie and their unborn offspring died due an accident. However, as the Joker later muses that he doesn't exactly remember what transformed him, it's left beyond anyone's speculation if such account of his origins is true or not as well as if Jeannie and her child truly existed after all.
 * In The New Batman Adventures animated show, part of the DC Animated Universe, the Joker tells Harley Quinn about his abusive father, who constantly abused him with or without reasons. However, as Batman later notes, the Joker was simply manipulating Harley to win her sympathy and is stated to always change his version of the story for his own gain.
 * In the 2008 critically acclaimed film The Dark Knight, part of the Nolanverse, the Joker once tells Gambol that his father was an alcoholic who physically abused his mother and was responsible for his Glasgow smile. However, he later tells Rachel Dawes that he did himself his Glasgow smile after his wife was left with one by some criminals, leaving ambiguous which of the two stories is the true one or if the two are fake.
 * Penny Fleck is Frances Conroy's second DC Comics role; she previously voiced Martha Kent, Superman's mother, in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies All-Star Superman and Superman Unbound, released in 2011 and 2013 respectively. Unlike Penny, however, Martha is a sane and loving mother.
 * Although Penny was killed off halfway to introduce Murray Franklin as the antagonist in the film's second act, Penny served as The Heavy because it was her negligence towards Arthur and her lies in part that caused Arthur to lose his sanity before meeting Franklin, indirectly aiding into triggering Arthur's transformation into the Joker.
 * The way in which Penny gets killed by Arthur (smothering her to death with a pillow) can be a reference to how Commodus kills his father Marcus Aurelius via the same way in Gladiator. Ironically, both Arthur and Commodus were portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix.
 * Frances McDormand, who voiced Chantel DuBois in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, was offered the role of Penny Fleck, but she turned it down.

Gallery
Penny Fleck