From The Man In Black To The Clown Prince of Crime. Joaquin Phoenix To Play The Joker

Hello nerds!

According to Variety, a deal between Joaquin Phoenix and Warner Bros. Pictures is in the works to bring the Academy Award nominated actor to the DC universe to play none other than the motherflippin Joker. Sort of. Apparently, Phoenix is in talks to play Mr. J in the "non-DC" DC universe, by way of the Todd Phillips Joker origin story.

“The movie would fall under a yet-to-be-announced new banner of DC Comics, which would give the studio the opportunity to expand the canon of the iconic comic-book characters with unique story angles that aren’t included in its current cinematic universe. ”

Yes friends. Sadly, this means the current big screen version of Joker, played by Jared Leto, is here to stay. And in case you forgot, Leto is indeed set to reprise the role in the Joker and Harley Quinn spinoff, alongside Margot Robbie. 

The report also sheds some light on what we can expect from the DCU adjacent film and the premise sounds like exactly what one would expect from a movie about characters of DC comics. Not whatever bullshit they are largely currently churning out, Wonder Woman not included mind you. 

“Scott Silver will join Phillips as a co-writer on the film, which will delve into what it took for the Joker to become a mastermind criminal. Sources say the story will take place in the ’80s and have more of the look of a gritty crime drama than comic-book movie.”

Sounds like a pretty intriguing concept of a Joker origin story, and fuck, would I love to see him going toe-to-toe with the "canonical" Batman and not this off-shoot universe. A universe, in my mind, will be far superior. From concept, to casting to box office, the Earth 2 version of the DCU will be fucking brilliant. Earth 1, however...