DC fans are in for some rather surprising news. According to Deadline, DC and Warner Bros. are apparently in the early stages of development of an origin film for The Joker, one of the most well-known and fearsome villains in all of comics. The film is to be directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover) from a script he will co-write with 8-Mile’s Scott Silver. Not only that, but Phillips will produce with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
The Joker film will be the first under a new banner that has yet to be named for DC that sets out to make unique films separate from the DCEU. An intriguing part of this is that the roles will be cast with different actors, so we won’t see Jared Leto, who recently played the Clown Prince in last summer’s Suicide Squad, or current Batman Ben Affleck in the film. This new film will look for new actor, possibly a younger one as well, to play The Joker.
Additionally, The Joker will apparently be set in the early 80s of Gotham City. Deadline notes that WB’s intention with this will be making “a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or The King Of Comedy. I’m told that Phillips and Silver are writing already, but there is nothing firm on where this will fit into the DC schedule.”
They also add that Leto is still set to reprise his role as Joker in the Suicide Squad sequel as well as Gotham City Sirens, the Harley Quinn-led spin-off.
What do you think of the idea of a Joker origin film separate from the DCEU? Who would you like to see play a young Joker? Let us know below…
Originally published August 23, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
