In a brief article, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Warner Bros and DC are in the early stages of creating a Joker origin movie. The Hangover filmmaker Todd Phillips is on board to co-write and maybe even direct this Joker origin movie and writing is already underway.
The Batman Universe spin-off film will be the first under a new franchise of films, as yet unnamed, in which Warner Bros will expand the DC properties canon by creating unique storylines featuring different actors playing their iconic characters.
According to a report from Deadline, “the intention is to make an origin story that isn’t part of any other iteration.” While Jared Leto’s 100% intolerable Joker from Suicide Squad will still feature in both the Suicide Squad sequel as well as the Harley Quinn spinoff, the new origin film will at least spare us that much by launching the Joker with a different, possibly younger actor (As long as they ditch that dreadful, horribly dated aesthetic, whatever.)
Phillips will co-write with Scott Silver, who wrote Eminem movie 8 Mile as well as The Fighter . Phillips is known for his work on the Hangover franchise but most recently wrote, directed, and produced War Dogs and Due Date.
Deadline’s report also mentions the film’s setting, which is meant to be tough and hard-edged. The inspiration is “a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or The King Of Comedy.”
Most baffling of all, Scorsese is allegedly set to produce the film.
My reaction:
DC, for the love of Pete. Nobody’s excited by the endless gray, grim, gritty takes straight outta Frank Miller’s subconscious. Please stop plumbing the well of Very Serious And Super Edgy ‘90s comics. It’s dated, it’s faded, and it hasn’t been cool in literally decades. Wonder Woman is widely considered DC’s best and most successful film for a reason, and I promise it’s not because it was sooooo gritty.
What do you think? Are you excited about seeing a new origin story for the Joker in a Scorcese-inspired tough guy flick filled with grime, grit and pathos? Or are you sick of mining the same old villains in the same old tired vision of the world? What characters do you want to see reinvented under this mysterious new banner of DC character films? Has DC learned anything, like, ever? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.
