Move over, Jared Leto it's time for Joaquin Phoenix to take a turn as DC's Clown Prince
of Crime.
As we've known for months now, the Walk the Line actor will be playing an alternate version
of the character for director Todd Phillips in an upcoming standalone origin movie, simply
titled Joker.
The project got the greenlight from Warner Brothers in July 2018.
In the time since, Phillips has teased audiences with behind-the-scenes looks at Phoenix in
the role from the movie's New York City-based shoot, with plenty of paparazzi footage also
in the wild showing the actor and crew at work.
Official glimpses of Phoenix have included a costume test in red, white, and blue makeup,
as well as a photo of the star in his Joker costume, relaxing between takes.
Overall, the earliest sneak peeks painted a picture of a Joker far removed from the
green-haired, purple-suited interpretations that we've seen before.
According to some writers, they were almost too different.
As a result, there's a new theory gaining traction based around one question — is
Joaquin Phoenix really playing the Joker?
So far, we've been told that Phoenix will be playing Arthur Fleck, a stand-up comedian
who loses his temper, sanity, and grip on reality after bombing with audiences and failing
to launch a legitimate career.
The idea goes that Fleck's agent of terror isn't the Joker, but is instead a predecessor
of the Joker — an inspiration for the character we're more familiar with.
Writing for CinemaBlend, writer Adam Holmes argues that Arthur is not the Batman rival
that we know, but rather a mentally-unhinged man who inspires the real Clown Prince of
Crime later on.
Holmes grounds his theory in the fact that Phoenix's Joker movie is set to feature a
middle-aged Arthur, a young Bruce Wayne, and a still-alive Thomas Wayne existing in the
same world at the same time — at least, that's what the situation looks like, provided
that flashbacks aren't a big part of the movie's story.
Based on the casting of Dante Pereira-Olson, the young Bruce Wayne is likely between the
ages of 8 and 12 years old, with parents who haven't yet been killed.
Arthur, on the other hand, is assumed to be roughly 40 to 45 years old.
It's an age gap that raises serious questions about the potential rivalry between Batman
and the Joker.
If the movie's Bruce grows up to be Batman like we expect, Phoenix's version of the Joker
could be upwards of 70 years old by the time Bruce starts his career as a caped crusader.
Historically, Batman and the Joker have been major influences on each other, serving as
each other's polar opposite.
One is an agent of order, the other an agent of chaos — and they're usually around the
same age.
The Joker movie is clearly switching things up from the source material in a number of
ways, with the character of Arthur Fleck being an original creation with no direct comic
book analogue.
So it's possible that this universe will just have a Joker much older than its Batman, but
it's also possible that Arthur is a sort of proto-Joker, never meant to fight Batman at
all.
Rumors about the plot of Joker suggest that the unhinged, clown-faced Arthur will inspire
a city-wide crime wave, whipping others into a felonious frenzy.
His actions just might serve as inspiration for criminals of the future, trying to live
up to his chaotic ideal.
In the comic books, other characters have taken up the role of Batman to live up to
Bruce Wayne's example, and villains take on the names of their evil predecessors all of
the time.
It's entirely possible that Arthur is just setting a standard for future Jokers to live
up to.
“I'm an idea."
Adding fuel to the theory is the fact that this interpretation of the Joker has existed
before, recently getting play in the Fox TV series Gotham.
There, the Joker is represented by the villainous twin Valeska brothers, who play Joker-like
psychopaths without ever adopting the name "Joker" on screen.
For several seasons, Gotham's agent of chaos was Jerome Valeska, an unhinged and nearly-unkillable
psychopath.
When Jerome was finally dispatched for good, his brother Jeremiah promptly took over, playing
a more cold and collected version of the Clown Prince of Crime.
The idea of multiple Jokers is something that's also been explored in the comic books, with
examples including DC Rebirth and the upcoming Batman: Three Jokers storyline written by
Geoff Johns.
The Joker is a character that lends himself well to these kind of radical new interpretations,
with his backstory and his name always being inconsistent.
Across dozens of stories in comics, movies, and TV shows, it's been made clear that the
identity of the Joker is irrelevant compared to what he represents.
In that sense, maybe there is no "real Joker".
"That's the joke, Ray — it's comedy."
We'll find out for sure what Arthur's story is when Joker hits theaters on October 4th,
2019.