Joaquin Phoenix joins the ranks of a list of actors who have portrayed The Joker onscreen. (Via Flickr @eLENA tUBARO)
Steven MacInnis
The Joker stand-alone movie has officially been announced with Joaquin Phoenix confirmed to play the famous Clown Prince of Crime.
The film focusing on Batman’s archenemy is set to be an origin story taking place in the ’80s. An announcement about the film described the upcoming movie as an “exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale” and will have a tone similar to a crime drama rather than the standard blockbuster superhero genre.
The film is reported to have a $55 million budget and is being helmed by director Todd Phillips (Old School, The Hangover) who will also serve as co-writer along with Scott Silver (8 Mile, The Fighter). It is being produced by The Wolf of Wall Street’s Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Richard Baratta.
Rumours of a stand-alone Joker movie surfaced last year with many expecting Jared Leto to reprise the role after starring in 2016’s Suicide Squad.
Although Leto has signed on to the sequel of Suicide Squad, Phoenix’s casting will take the character in a new direction and is expected not to be connected to Leto’s Joker.
Since the character’s inception, The Joker has remained one of the most revered comic book supervillains in history, and has appeared in a variety of media including video games, television series, and animated and live-action films.
The Joker made his first appearance in Batman #1 in 1940.
Humber News takes a look at the actors who have portrayed Batman’s fearless foe throughout the years.