- Did Robert Pattinson spoil a Batman crossover
with Joaquin Phoenix's Joker?
This fall it seems like Warner Brothers
is fully clowning around.
This weekend IT Chapter Two hits theaters
and just a month away is the release of Joker.
Get it?
Clowning around.
They're both movies about clowns.
Reviews and reactions to Joker are starting
to trickle in from the festival circuit,
and as expect, fans are getting hyped
about the potential of a new prestige superhero drama.
Well we still don't know a ton of details
about Joker's plot, we do know it's supposed to exist
separately from the main DC Cinematic Universe.
But now, a comment made by Batman actor Robert Pattinson
has fans putting that standalone status into question
and wondering if there could be a crossover in the future.
For those with selective memory,
the DC Cinematic Universe's most recent Joker
was one Jared Leto, who gave a performance so epic,
iconic, definitive, groundbreaking and all around perfect,
he was awarded an honorary Oscar for excellence,
nay, perfection in acting.
Guys, I'm just kidding.
Don't worry, I'm kidding, that was a joke.
Relax!
But Suicide Squad did win an Oscar for best makeup,
so, yeah, in a way I also was not lying.
Joking aside, this week DC's newest on screen Batman,
Twilight and Harry Potter alum Robert Pattinson,
or, as we like to call him, Robert Battinson,
gave an interview to Variety while promoting
some of his films debuting at the Venice Film Festival.
Of course, Pattinson's interview was
also full of his responses to being cast as Batman,
his concerns about fan backlash,
and his genuine excitement for donning the cape and cowl.
But, what has fans in a tizzy were his comments,
or rather his non-comments about Joaquin Phoenix's Joker,
written up by Variety report Ramin Setoodeh.
At one point in our conversation he offers
a mundane comment about Joaquin Phoenix,
who stars in Joker, a movie he hasn't seen yet,
before asking to retract it.
"Oh (bleep)."
He says, adding that he's not accustomed
to thinking about spoilers.
I definitely should not say that,
I'm so used to pretty art house movies
where you can watch the movie three times
and still not know what it's about.
Now, while this could literally be spoilers
about almost anything in the Joker film,
many fans have taken this as a hint
that there could be a future crossover
between Joaquin Phoneix's Joker
and Pattinson's upcoming Batman.
Is it possible?
Well, let's run down the evidence.
We know that in the current comics
there are three separate Jokers
existing within the DC Universe
over the course of time.
While that storyline has yet to be resolved,
this idea of multiple jokers existing in one universe
could extend to the cinematic side of DC as well.
Though the filmmakers insist that Phoenix's Joker
will take place outside of the main DC Cinematic Universe,
if it is a huge success there's no way
Warner Brothers is going to miss out
on turning this into a franchise.
Using the three Joker theory we could see
how Warner Brothers might retcon this origin movie
to show how Phoenix's Joker was just the first Joker
and eventually this led to or inspired other Jokers.
We do see in the latest trailer for Joker
that Phoenix's Clown Prince of Crime
is inspiring followers to riot and commit crimes
all while wearing clown masks.
So it's not a stretch to see how the Joker's image
could stay in the public consciousness of Gotham
and perhaps inspire Jared Leto's Joker,
if there were to be a connection to the larger DCEU.
So, maybe this is the thread that Pattinson
was trying not to spoil, or that his Batman will be
facing a devotee of Phoenix of his own,
and not Leto.
Even though Pattinson's Batman will be
rolling back the clock to focus on
a younger Batman at the start of his career,
we think it's pretty improbable that
Joaquin Phoenix's Joker himself would
appear in the Batman to face off against R Bats,
considering Joker is set in the 1980s
and we see a young Bruce Wayne in the teaser.
Phoenix's Joker would basically be a geriatric
by the time he faced Pattinson's Batman.
But you never know, Michael Keaton is 14 years younger
than Jack Nicholson and he had no problem
punching him in the face.
- You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, would you?
- So while we don't know for sure how
or if these two films will be connected,
it's clear that WB is banking on the success of Joker
considering the early Oscar buzz
some believe the film deserves.
We said some as we still haven't seen the movie ourselves.
In all seriousness, it's very unlikely
that Joker and the Batman will actually crossover.
While it would be cool to see the indie
Batman-Joker fight of the internet's dreams,
this is all just speculation.
We'll just have to find out if there are
any Bruce Wayne related Easter eggs in Joker
come October when the film hits theaters.
But what do you folks think?
Would you want Joaquin Phoenix's Joker
to crossover with Robert Pattinson's Batman?
Or do you think the DCEU should stay separate from Joker?
- Yeah.
- And, would you want Robert Pattinson's Batman
to crossover with Jason Momoa's Aquaman?
The only answer is yes.
- I dig it.
- Let's discuss.
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