The DC Extended Universe just keeps on expanding, but it is hard to imagine that anyone saw this one coming. According to a new report, Warner Bros. is looking at doing aJokermovie that will explore the origin story of theiconic Batman villain. That part isn’t so hard to believe. The crazy part is that Todd Phillips, the director ofThe Hangovertrilogy, is set to helm the movie and co-write the script, while Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, is producing.
Deadlinebrings us this rather unexpected news, and it doesn’t get any less crazy. Scott Silver, the man behind8 Mile, is said to be co-writing the script for thisJokermovie with Todd Phillips right now. According to the report, this project will be happening under a new, unnamed production banner at Warner Bros. that “can expand the canon of DC properties and create unique storylines with different actors playing the iconic characters.” So it looks like we are going to get a whole lot more DC spin-offs in the future. Or at least Warner Bros. is going to develop them.
ThisJokerorigin story is said to be taking place during the 80s in Gotham City. The idea, per this report, is to have it feel likeMartin Scorsese’s moviesfrom that era, withTaxi Driver,Raging BullandThe King Of Comedynamed specifically. That would explain why the studio would want Scorsese involved, but it doesn’t necessarily explain how they convinced him to work on a comic book movie. Especially one that runs the risk of being quite controversial.The Jokerdoesn’t have a definitive origin story and it is certainly something that has never been fully explored on screen. So this movie could be wandering into delicate territory with the fan community.
Deadline’s report notes that this particularJokerorigin won’t be part of “any other iteration.” That being the case, it is said thatJared Leto, who most recently portrayed the DC Comics villain inSuicide Squad, won’t be playing the character in this movie. Instead, they will be targeting a new, possibly younger actor. However, the report does mention that Leto is still slated to appear inSuicide Squad 2andGotham City Sirens, though, that project seems to be less of a sure thing at this point.
Currently, there is no word as to when this will fit into Warner Bros. slate of DC movies or how it will connect to the greater DCEU, if at all. Considering the iconic performances linked to The Joker on screen, with Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’sBatmanand Heath Ledger’s character-defining performance inThe Dark Knight, this may be a tough sell. Then again, The Joker is certainly a very popular character and Warner Bros. does have Martin Scorsese on board the creative team. At this point, there are more questions than answers, but good or bad, this is certainly a bit of unexpected news for DC fans. We will be sure to keep you up to date as more details on theJokermovie are made available.
