Joker (origin film)

"Hey, we're doing a Joker film!"

"Oh cool! So we're extending this beyond the Gotham series?"

"Why would we do that?"

"Oh okay so Jared Leto..."

"What? No!"

"But wait... So we're revisiting the Nolan era Joker?"

"This is different. We got Joaquin Phoenix playing him."

"So wait... This is an origins film and we're using an older guy to tell the beginning of Joker that Leto eventually plays?"

"What? No! What are you talking about?"

"No, what are YOU talking about? We got 3 different universes of the same characters that have nothing to do with each other! What the heck are we even doing here at DC???"

"We already have other Jokers being portrayed?"

I think WB is just making whatever they want whenever they want and the reboot window has a cushion of 4 months or something. How can anyone relate to the DCU together as a society? The discussions would be so confusing.

Marvel has ONE S.H.I.E.L.D.. ONE Cap, ONE Loki, ONE Hell's Kitchen.... When you talk about anything MCU at least everyone is talking about the same thing. Anything that had prior iterations were from years passing enough to where it's pretty clear the differences.

Spider-Man was probably the most close-together transition from the solo films from Sony moving into the joint cooperation of the Disney Marvel MCU, but they handled that with a very clear reasoning and were very methodical.

Exactly this. I mean, the Flash, one of DCs tent pole characters, exists at the same time in two different ways. The CW TV version, and the cinematic version. Not the same actor, not even really the same character except in name and abilities. WB/DC lacks the one thing that the MCU has, which is one cohesive world, and good writing, and good CGI effects, and humor, and fight choreography... OK, so that's more than one thing DC lacks that Marvel has.



Sundowner
I mostly just skim over comics these days, so I don't know which artist and writer is doing what with the Joker, and haven't paid much attention to it for the last twenty years or so. Of course the Joker has an origin, but none of them that I've seen, heard of, read, etc. we're any good. I liked Ledgers Joker because not only did he not have a clearly defined backstory, but that when he was in a situation of power, he would tell a different story about how he got his scars. He played to his audience and he was brilliant and insane. He clearly had a plan, despite likening himself to a dog chasing a bone, not knowing what to do with it if he ever got it. Even if his plan only made sense in his own twisted mind. He stole The Dark Knight as the star. Two Face was great, and I Have A Head Cold Batman was a distant third.

There's something sacrosanct in writing the Joker. He is one of the few characters, hero or villain, who needs no origin, where mystery makes him more interesting.

He didn't need to be Jack Napier, who murdered the Waynes, inspired Bruce to become the Batman. He didn't need to be a failed comedian, unable to provide for his family. He didn't need to be a circus orphan who killed his mother like Jerome in Gotham. He didn't need any explanation of who he was and where he came from. He is a force of nature, and that's enough. To explain him, dissolves the mystery that surrounds him and makes him less than the Joker. That's my take on it anyway.


So TL;DR, I'm not okay with any origin for the Joker, in any medium or format.
 
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There's something sacrosanct in writing the Joker. He is one of the few characters, hero or villain, who needs no origin, where mystery makes him more interesting.

He didn't need to be Jack Napier, who murdered the Waynes, inspired Bruce to become the Batman. He didn't need to be a failed comedian, unable to provide for his family. He didn't need to be a circus orphan who killed his mother like Jerome in Gotham. He didn't need any explanation of who he was and where he came from. He is a force of nature, and that's enough. To explain him, dissolves the mystery that surrounds him and makes him less than the Joker. That's my take on it anyway.


So TL;DR, I'm not okay with any origin for the Joker, in any medium or format.
Great point, the same could be said for a few other iconic characters in recent memory like the Xenomorphs and Darth Vader. More often then not knowing less about a character is way more effective because your imagination can fill in the blanks.
 
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Looks interesting. depending on the state of the clothes he wears along with that kind of face paint, he could very easily fall into my "preferred" style of joker. I like the look of the Nicholson and BMTAS joker, where if he showed up somewhere, the average person wouldn't be purely intimidated by his appearance. there'd be this kind of "well this is bizarre, I wonder what this guy's deal is-OH MY GOD HE JUST MELTED THAT DUDE'S FACE. RUN." scenario that could play out.

As opposed to the look of the Ledger joker, and the craggy faced joker look that some of the more recent animated shows have gone with, like the version in Red Hood; those guys show up somewhere and everyone's first thought is "we are all gonna die". Each useful for telling different types of stories; I just know my preference :p
 
I'm sorry, but the test photos just look like a sketchy clown. Nothing screams Joker to me, but perhaps the makeup takes on a progression as the story is told and that we end up with the signature white face and red lips.

I'm not going to criticize too hard right now because it does say "test"
 
I’ll echo what most are saying and this is probably early on or just a test. But watch the video as Vivek said, especially when he goes from smiling to a sinister stare. Truly scary.
 
It looks too much like the Dark Knight heist masks for me. I can't take a Joker with a red nose too seriously and the deep bottom lip looks really odd with his mouth open.
 
Two Jokers actually wore that style briefly. I just recently found this out.

View attachment 844024
As masks though, not as final look.

I just hope that look is an early one before full transition to final style.

My hopes for this have been increased as I like Phoenix and think he can do well with the role. As much as I'm not into that test make up it is still way above and beyond Leto's style. That whole thing was horrid.
 
I’ve watched a few times and we get a glimpse of his costume that steers away from the purple but still colorful. Honestly this teaser is all I want to see until the movie comes out. TDK had a teaser that just showed a bat symbol and Ledger’s Joker voice over with his laugh. That was all we got and I was blown away
 
I really don't like the whole putting-on-make-up Joker that's been so popular over the last decade and a half. It takes away from the character, I feel. He should just...exist. Having any kind of "origin" for the Joker feels redundant.

Having said that, that 30 second Instagram clip got me interested. It kinda gave me The King of Comedy vibes just from those 30 seconds. King of Comedy is one of Scorcese's lesser films but if that's the route they're taking this, it'll be a whole heaping lot better than the other stuff that's been coming out.
 
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