Warner Bros.’ next gamble is a Joker origin film to make up for all the complaints heaped on Suicide Squid for the lack of the Clown Prince of Crime.
I don’t like Warner Bros.’ “throw the spaghetti against the wall and see if it sticks” way of doing things in the DCEU. I understand their “creator-first” mentality, as opposed to Marvel’s The Feige Method or Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy’s Way or We Cut You Off At The Knees in the Press Method. But there are good projects and bad projects…
…and a Joker origin film could be the best thing in the world.
If done correctly.
According to new reports, Todd Phillips is the man with a plan when it comes to Joker’s origin film. Actually, the two writers named come from The Hangover (Phillips) and 8 Mile (Scott Silver). I know, “Haha… what?” Without knowing that much about these guys, I just think they’re going to write what they know and since they know loud and obnoxiously testosterone-pumped stuff like War Dogs and The Fighter, I’m thinking that’s what we’ll see from the Joker.
Especially since there won’t be a weird or nuanced performance from Jared Leto to back it up.
As The Hollywood Reporter points out:
"The project is intended to be part of a still-developing label for Warners’ DC Entertainment properties that will include projects that could stand apart from the big massive tentpoles that are tied to each other in a shared universe way."
That means Joker’s movie doesn’t have to fit the current DCEU continuity. Plus, they don’t need to cast Jared Leto, who played the villain in Suicide Squad.
So where does that leave us?
The once-civilized and otherwise normal side of the Joker. In Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film, Jack Nicholson played a man named Jack Napier who had a terrible accident and became the Joker. Like Leto in Suicide Squad, 1989 Joker was a sort of gangster. (Or at least, I think that’s what Leto was trying to emulate?) In the new Batman comic, The White Knight, this name again becomes significant as its used officially in the comics.
Related Story: The most important lessons I learned from Dirty Dancing
So now we have a man with a name. My assumption for a Joker origin film would be to trace how he goes from Jack Napier to the Joker. Basically, the name alone gives them a better place to jump off from. That way, they can go in either the direction of The Killing Joke as they tackle how one bad day could change your life. Or they may decide to start somewhere totally different. But if they’re not adhering to DCEU-continuity, how do you cast someone better than Margot Robbie to play Harley Quinn? Short answer: You can’t.
Either way, I can’t wait to inevitably hear someone go, “WAIT, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BATMAN V SUPERMAN?!?”