Director Todd Phillips Gives Us a First Look at Joaquin Phoenix in Joker Film

Erin Lynch

Today on Instagram, director Todd Phillips introduced us to Joker. Well, not exactly Joker. The first-look image gives us a look at Joaquin Phoenix‘s character before he had a really, really bad day. And he’s been given a new character name! So everyone, say hello to Arthur.

The untitled Joker film has been pretty hush-hush since production began. We know a little bit about the plot due to casting but really nothing else. The latest news we received was Thomas Wayne casting, but that casting news has fallen through. So far we know that Robert DeNiro will be playing a late night host with Marc Maron as the talk show host’s agent. Zazie Beatz will be playing a single mother and Frances Conroy had signed up to be now-named Arthur’s mother.

Because of this, we can assume that Arthur is a down-and-out comedian, just trying to get a chance to show off his talents on a late night show. A plot slightly similar to the infamous comic The Killing Joke. However, this is set to be a “hard-boiled crime drama”, so they could be doing anything. Rolling Stone has reported that the character’s name will be Arthur Fleck. 

RELATED: Alec Baldwin Drops Out of Joker Film 

The look of Arthur is a slightly disheveled one, but a very ordinary. Nothing about this man says he’d become an insane crime lord at all. However, the Joker has said in multiple ways and in multiple mediums that it only takes a push for an ordinary person to lose control. So it’s not hard to see how he’ll eventually become the most famous villain in all of Gotham. At least he’ll have that going for him, right?

I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with him. This will be an interesting take on the character, given the setting, the character’s age, etc. I’m curious to see how or even if they tie his origin to Batman’s story. Will Batman even be involved? Given that Thomas Wayne will be cast – seemingly not. However we may have a 1989 Batman-esque Joker – one that ends up killing Thomas and Martha Wayne to create Batman. We’ll have to wait and see!

Check out the image below and let us know what you think. Be sure to come back to Geek Girl Authority for more DC updates. The untitled Joker film is set to debut sometime in 2019.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnzF1teH-yK/

 

Erin Lynch

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