It’s unclear how large a role he will play in the movie, but ‘Joker’ has cast Dante Pereira-Olson to play a young Bruce Wayne. The juvenile actor has a connection to the production, having played a younger version of Joaquin Phoenix‘s character, Joe, in last year’s indie drama ‘You Were Never Really Here’. Of course, Phoenix is playing the titular character, also known as Arthur Fleck.
This casting is intriguing because that makes The Joker and Bruce Wayne a few decades apart in age. I’m not sure how old Pereira-Olson is, but Phoenix is a rugged 44 years old. This Bruce has at least ten years before he will be Batman-age, which would place The Joker in his 50s! Though there has never been definitive ages given to the characters, The Joker and Batman have clearly never been that far apart in age.
Also part of the cast is ‘Narcos” Brett Cullen who plays Bruce’s father Thomas Wayne. There have been rumors that somehow Thomas may have also fathered Arthur, but that now seems highly unlikely.
What is known is that Arthur’s mother Penny (Frances Conroy) once worked for Thomas Wayne and may have had inappropriate feelings for him.
The cast also includes Zazie Beetz, Bryan Callen, Bill Camp, Glenn Fleshler, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, Shea Whigham and Robert DeNiro.
The film will reportedly be set in the 1980s, with Fleck, possibly a failed stand-up comedian, returning home to Gotham City to care for his ailing mother. He meets and may begin a relationship with single mother Sophie Dumond. Somehow his path crosses that of Thomas Wayne as well as, DeNiro’s character Murray Franklin, who appears to be a talk show host. Maron’s character reportedly works for Franklin.
Pereira-Olson had a recurring role on the first season of Syfy’s fantasy crime series ‘Happy!’. He also had small roles on ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘Mozart in the Jungle’.
Directed by Todd Phillips, ‘Joker’ opens on October 4, 2019.
Source: ComicBook.com
