After months of speculation, last week saw it officially confirmed that the Todd Phillips-directed, Joaquin Phoenix-starring, non-DCEU Joker movie was a go – and now we’ve got details on when that film will hit the silver screen.
As revealed by Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment, the picture has been booked in for an October 4th, 2019 release. Not only that, but the powers-that-be have also confirmed that the movie will simply be titled Joker.
The early blurb on the effort reads:
Under the director of Todd Phillips (The Hangover franchise), the new film centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is a standalone story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of a man disregarded by society is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.
Phillips has put the screenplay together along with The Fighter’s Scott Silver, and Martin Scorsese is involved in a producing capacity.
Joker is being developed, as alluded to, away from the DC Extended Universe banner in which we have seen Jared Leto parading as the Clown Prince of Crime. Instead, Joker will be the first of a new banner of movie, believed to be labelled DC Black or DC Dark. Those pictures will exist away from the DCEU and tell more adult-orientated, darker tales.
Speaking of Leto, he is still very much the DCEU’s Joker, and that incarnation of the Jester of Genocide has several upcoming appearances scheduled. That Joker will similarly be getting his own solo film at some point, not to mention a twisted romance picture with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, and a role in Gavin O’Connor’s Suicide Squad sequel. This, of course, coming off the back of Leto recently landing himself the titular role in Sony Pictures’ Spider-Verse effort, Morbius the Living Vampire.
Joaquin Phoenix? As the Joker? Yes, yes please. But still, we can’t help but get the idea that this reeks of desperation following the awful reaction to the DCEU as a whole. So how do you manage to fight your way out of this proverbial paper bag without losing face? Why, you simply give yourself a way to tell tales with some of DC Comics’ greatest characters away from the confines of the already-panned DCEU. And let’s just hope that they don’t go the “antihero” route with good ol’ Mr J, or that it’s deemed a good idea to fully flesh out his backstory. Y’know, what with the mystery and uncertainty behind his backstory being part of the demented charm of this most notorious of pop culture characters.
Expect more on Joker as it continues to develop.
