Variety reports that Todd Phillips’ “Joker” film has been given the green light starring Joaquin Phoenix as Batman’s most iconic villain. The budget is said to fall within the $55 million dollar range with Phillip’s joined by Scott Silver (8 Mile (2002), The Finest Hours (2016)) serving as co-writer on the film. The story will not take place within the current DC universe.
The tale of how the Agent of Chaos came to be is said to be more along the lines of a gritty crime drama than a comic-book film. Which leads one down the path of ‘what’s the point?’ But then I for the life of me couldn’t fathom why anyone would watch Smallville or Gotham so what do I know. Earlier reports said the plot would entail the Joker being a ‘failed comedian’ which I thought was a terrible idea. Whether this is still the case I don’t know but this coupled with it being a ‘gritty crime drama’ has me scootching further and further away from this production.
I truly don’t understand the logic of these Hollywood folk. It’s a universe where the primary protagonist dresses up like a bat. I don’t expect nor want it to resemble ‘The Wire’. If you want ‘dark’…do it in the vein of the Arkham Asylum video games. They were dark but still kept the fantasy elements of the universe intact.
