Last Updated on August 2, 2021
Last Friday, director Todd Phillips shared a creepy and cool video on his Instagram account that gave us our first look at how Joaquin Phoenix will look as the title character in their collaboration JOKER, which will reveal (one version of) the origin of the infamous DC Comics villain. As it turns out, that camera test video was just the tip of the iceberg – presumably released by Phillips because he knew they were about to film at a location where onlookers were likely to leak spy pictures and videos of Phoenix in full Joker mode.
Such pictures and videos hit the internet over the weekend, showing Phoenix's Joker – sporting clown makeup, a typical Joker suit, and the classic green hair – causing trouble on a subway platform.
With a budget of $55 million, JOKER is said to be more along the lines of a crime thriller than the average comic book movie, and a "dark character study" in the vein of TAXI DRIVER and THE KING OF COMEDY. That grounded approach is very apparent in the look of the Joker, as this version doesn't have an unnatural perma-smile like Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson's Jokers, nor is he a tattoo-sporting ghoul like Jared Leto's. Like Cesar Romero's Joker, Phoenix's is a guy in clown makeup, and in this case the makeup is close to what you would expect to see on the average clown, it's just sloppily applied.
Written by Phillips and Scott Silver, JOKER draws some inspiration from the Alan Moore comic book The Killing Joke.
In Alan Moore’s version of the Joker’s origins, the villain was an unnamed failed comedian who struggles to make ends meet for his pregnant wife. When his wife is killed in a freak accident and a robbery he is forced to take part in disfigures his face, the comedian snaps, becoming the infamous Joker.
Phoenix's co-stars in the film include Robert De Niro as a talk show host; Frances Conroy as Penny, the mother of Arthur Fleck, the man who becomes the Joker; Marc Maron as an agent; Brett Cullen as wealthy mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne, father of future Batman Bruce Wayne; and Zazie Beetz as a single mother who catches Arthur's attention.
Phillips has shared an image of Beetz in character, and that can be seen below along with the pictures and video of Phoenix as the Joker.
JOKER is set to reach theatres on October 4, 2019.
Joaquin Joker Phœnix. pic.twitter.com/hkPNSmgWuV
— Mehdi Omaïs (@MehdiOmais) September 22, 2018
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