Todd Phillips is going to be taking The Joker into familiar territory as the origin movie which will portray the future Clown Prince of Crime as a failed 80s comedian. With this in mind, Martin Scorsese‘s involvement about a crimelord and failed comedian lines up well with his past work in crime dramas and the 1983 hit ‘King of Comedy.’ It is if they’re pairing his previous work together to create a new origin for The Joker.
This idea was initially proposed in the iconic 1988 graphic novel ‘The Killing Joke’ by Alan Moore which is one of the definitive tales of The Joker. The idea was that after “one bad day” he finally loses his grip on sanity and turns to a life of crime in order to feed his family.
We all know how that ended up.
At this time, Joaquin Phoenix is in final negotiations to play the character and it isn’t clear how much of the movie we’ll actually see him as The Joker and not a failing comedian. Production was initially set to begin later this year though rumors have re-writes by Phillips and Scott Silver potentially pushing back the start date.
We know that there have been multiple Joker origin stories and even multiple Jokers are apparently running around in the comics, so I’m glad at least one of his semi-known origins is what they’re expanding upon here. It was never fully fleshed out in the comics to the point that would thoroughly guide this film, but there is absolutely groundwork which can be used. To our knowledge, the movie is set to be a DC standalone and not an origin to Jared Leto’s The Joker who we were introduced to in the DCEU’s ‘Suicide Squad.’
Are you excited for an origin film about ‘The Joker’? Do you think that Joaquin Phoenix will do a good job at the character? Share your thoughts below!
Source: The Wrap
