Todd Phillips, the director of Joker, has clarified his earlier comments about the film’s comic book inspiration.
It had been reported that Todd Phillips had said his Joker movie isn’t basing its plot on the comic books but the director has now said that this isn’t quite the case, that film actually has taken inspiration from the comics of the past.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, the director said: “What I said was that we didn’t take anything from one particular comic. We kind of picked and chose what we liked from the 80-year canon of Joker and we’d say ‘oh, that’s interesting This is kind of…’ We kind of pulled a few things that we liked.”
The director also spoke about why the decision was made to set the film in the past: “For us we never say in the movie it’s 1981, but we always say it’s late seventies early eighties, mainly because we don’t want people to be like ‘Wow that car wasn’t out in 1979’, so late seventies early eighties. But the time for me…one reason was to separate it quite frankly, from the DC universe. When I pitched to Warner Brothers, and handed the script in, to sort of make it clear, this isn’t fucking with anything you have going on. This is like a separate universe. So much so, it takes place in the past, before everything else.”
SEE ALSO: Joker director debunks The Batman crossover speculation and Leonardo DiCaprio casting rumour
There has certainly been a lot of talk, buzz, and speculation surrounding Joker but fortunately, fans will actually get to see the film for themselves very soon. Fingers crossed it’s a worthy addition to the character’s cinematic legacy!
Joker centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. The exploration of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.
Joker is set for release on October 4th 2019 and stars Joaquin Phoenix (The Sisters Brothers), Robert De Niro (Goodfellas), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Bill Camp (Red Sparrow), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story), Brett Cullen (Narcos), Glenn Fleshler (Billions), Douglas Hodge (Penny Dreadful), Marc Maron (GLOW), Josh Pais (Motherless Brooklyn), Shea Whigham (Kong: Skull Island), Douglas Hodge (Robin Hood) and Dante Pereira-Olson (You Were Never Really Here).
Originally published September 17, 2019. Updated September 18, 2019.
