We've Got Our First Look At Joaquin Phoenix As The Joker - But He Isn't Quite Yet The Clown Prince Of Crime

Author’s Note: Published this in the midst of NFL Sunday, bumping for all who may have missed it and are interested.

It’s no secret that everything DC’s film department has touched since Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy has turned to tremendous, expensive, steaming piles of shit. It’s also no secret that Jared Leto’s Joker portrayal, while unique, just didn’t quite do it for a lot of us following Heath Ledger’s tremendous version of the villain. So when news first hit that Joaquin Phoenix was to star as the Clown Prince of Crime in an origin story simply titled, ‘Joker’, I was certainly pretty weary to get excited. I love Joaquin, I think he’s a truly extraordinary actor, and I could totally see him as The Joker, but right now?

Why right now, while the studio is running around like a chicken with its head cut off? Why muddy these cinematic universal waters with multiple Joker movies coming out, spanning different timelines and confusing the audience as to which Joker is which, which one is in the Margot Robbie movies, which one isn’t, etc.? Why does it have to be an origin story? Why can’t we reboot everything and cast him as The Joker in a Batman movie, so he could operate as he was always intended to as a character – as a weather system. We do not have to know anything about The Joker for him to work. He’s just…well he’s just The Joker. He’s a crazy man who dresses up as a clown and kills people and commits crimes and shit. Hates Batman but also sorta can’t live without him. That’s all we need to know!

‘Joker’ then truly grabbed my attention, however, when I read that Martin Scorsese would be involved, Todd Phillips would be writing, and that Robert De Niro and Marc Maron were cast alongside Phoenix. All of that sounded great, and then I heard that NOBODY involved in the DCEU would be laying a finger on this one, so the optimism kicked in, and everything went from “Why?” to “Why not?” REAL fast. With these above pictures to come out of the set today, I’m all in. Phoenix has that perfect Joker nose, and everything about his look and style is just so perfect already.

Can’t wait to see this mothafucka in the paint!