- Does the Joker standalone film signal the end
of the DC Cinematic Universe?
Hey, remember the DCEU?
Well, Martin Scorcese wants you to forget about it.
Eh.
At least, that's what a lot of fans are speculating
after Deadline broke the news that the Goodfellas director
would be producing a brand new Joker standalone movie.
According to Deadline, the movie, which is being written
and directed by Hangover helmer Todd Phillips
will be a gritty film noir chronicling the origins
of the clown prince of crime.
Now they also noted that the film will take place
in the '80s and be completely Batman-free.
- Oh (bleep).
- Now those last two details are interesting
because they would seem to cut the film entirely free
from the exiting DCEU, nor will it be the only DC movie
to do so in the very near future.
Matt Reeves is now claiming that his Batman trilogy
will exist completely on its own terms
and by the looks of it, so will Joss Whedon's Batgirl
in the upcoming Shazam project, which all leads us
to the inevitable question, is Warner Brothers already
giving up on its DC Cinematic Universe
and the answer is a resounding, kind of, sort of.
- Oh (bleep).
- With the Flash, Aquaman, and most importantly,
Wonder Woman 2 all in current stages of development,
WB still has a lot of interest invested in the DCEU
and it's hard to imagine they'll be ready to shut the door
on it completely anytime soon.
But the Joker film could be signaling a pretty significant
change of course for the company,
moving away from the everything-is-connected MCU model
to something more akin to Fox's X-Men films.
Deadpool and Logan and even Legion are all theoretically
linked to the rest of the X-Men franchise,
but the connective tissue is pretty thin.
Now for the most part, writers and directors are given
the creative control to present the version
of the character they want.
Now we could definitely see a situation emerge
where the DCEU keeps chugging along
while these elseworld films are happening on the fringes
and if one of them is a particularly huge hit,
what's to stop them from bringing it into the larger fold?
It already seems like WB is ready to play fast and loose
with continuity, considering they're gearing up
for a reality altering event with Flashpoint.
But there is still the possibility that the company
is looking to dismantle the DCEU entirely
and if they do, it might just be the best thing
that could happen for the future of DC films.
Long before the emergence of Marvel
as a cinematic powerhouse, DC was laying the groundwork
for our current world of nonstop comic book blockbusters
and they weren't doing it
with the cinematic universe gimmick.
They were doing it by relying on the talents
of actual visionary directors like Richard Donner,
Tim Burton, and Christopher Nolan.
Heck, even within the DCEU, the company's biggest success
came when they loosened up the controls a little bit
and let Patty Jenkins give us her version of Wonder Woman.
And now we have word of this Joker standalone film which,
let's face it, something like this film
could never happen within the MCU.
Reports claim that the film will be inspired
by a lot of Scorsese's earlier works like Taxi Driver
and Raging Bull, which is a tonal risk
Marvel just can't afford to make,
what with Kevin Feige's super meticulous continuity control.
Now it's pretty much what robbed us of Edgar Wright's
Ant Man and we're glad DC isn't making those same choices.
At the end of the day, it could be awesome
if DC's big screen film started to resemble
their small screen animated ones.
Those direct-to-video movies are like a sandbox
for various animators to play with a huge variety
of different characters and settings and none of them
are saddled with the burden of connecting to another one.
As a result, they've treated us to some stories
like The Dark Knight Returns and All Star Superman
that we'd probably never have seen onscreen otherwise.
Now of course, this also leads to the possibility
that we'll be seeing more insane duds like Joel Schumacher's
Batman movies or the Halle Berry Catwoman,
but if it also means we get to see something
as potentially great as Martin Scorsese's Joker,
it's probably worth the risk.
I mean, it'll be worth it even if all it does
is get someone besides Jared Leto in the role.
- I am not someone who is loved.
- Am I right? - Do it!
- Yes.
What do you folks think?
Could the DCEU really be done for, and what directors
would you like to see take on more of your DC favorites?
Let's discuss.