THEORY: the Drop drug is a crucial part of the plot of #TheBatman and can tell us a LOT about the film and the prequel show.

This drug is the missing piece that ties almost all of my theories together.

(art by @cinnamonpepsi)

First an overview of events:

-Joker makes Drop
-Batman+GCPD take down Joker and put him in Arkham
-Falcone & Maroni fight for control of Drop
-Mayor takes down Maroni mob w/ historic drug bust, to give Falcone mob a monopoly on Drop dealing
-Riddler emerges to end the corruption

Everything up to Riddler's emergence is merely background information for The Batman. While it's very relevant to the corruption plot, it won't be explored in depth till the Gotham Central prequel show.

At the heart of this mystery in #TheBatman is the corruption between the Falcone mob & govt. officials.

On the corrupt mayor’s wall is a news clipping that says “MARONI DRUG BUST: Mayor’s Sting Operation Historic”.

I believe the drug it refers to is Drop.

It’s likely all of the Drop seized in the raids is given right back to Falcone’s people to sell. This could be what’s happening in the trailer with Penguin, who we know is an affiliate of Falcone.

Drop also ties into my theory that Stanley Merkel is a corrupt cop and a reinvented version of Mad Hatter. Now that we know the drug he'd be dealing is a psychedelic, this is even more fitting: he gets high on his supply and goes mad... https://twitter.com/BigBatTheory/status/1310033705021267969

I believe Drops is created by the Joker. If you wanna debate this point, I’d love to hear your thoughts over on my other thread about the topic: https://twitter.com/BigBatTheory/status/1317506214171832322

I believe Joker is in Arkham during the film, and filling a role in the plot like Calendar Man in The Long Halloween.

He’s someone the detectives consult when they need a new lead on the core mystery.

Full theory on that:
https://twitter.com/BigBatTheory/status/1306932740554551296

When I first theorized this, I was lost on WHY they’d visit Joker. How could he help with the case? I didn’t have an answer to that question until now.

Drops is the answer.

If Joker's the original manufacturer and distributor of Drops he could know about the current operation

My next theory post will cover how I think Gotham Central could go about exploring Joker's origin with the Red Hood in a manner similar to Zero Year. Thanks for reading this far :)