We finally have our first glimpse of Joaquin Phoenix as the clown prince of crime. Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer for Todd Phillips‘ highly anticipated Joker today, and it doesn’t look a thing like your usual superhero movie.
All reports over the last 6 months indicated that the film would be a Taxi Driver-esque drama revolving around a Joker origin story, and the trailer below delivers exactly that. Travis Bickle is clearly a direct inspiration for Phoenix’s portrayal, and there are also major comparisons to be made to another Martin Scorsese film – The King Of Comedy.
That includes the darkly comedic tone, the descent into madness, and even the presence of Robert De Niro. What began as a strange, fever dream of a movie that no one could quite wrap their head around has turned into something exciting and fascinating.
Whether Joker is successful or not could dictate many of DC’s upcoming plans for comic book movies. They have stated that they’re no longer particularly interested in following the interconnected Marvel model. If Joker is a hit as a standalone reimagining – it’s hard to imagine Phoenix has signed on for multiple films – then maybe this is the direction they take other comic book characters.
We’ll wait and see. Phillips – the director of The Hangover movies – was always an intriguing choice to helm the project. Hopefully he can deliver something memorable. Joker hits cinemas on Friday, October 4. Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, Frances Conroy, and Brian Tyree Henry also star.
#Peace.Love.Joker
