JOKER’S A CARD WORTH PLAYING
DC should roll the dice on origin movie for Batman’s legendary, smiling villain
Why so serious? The Joker may be getting his own movie, that’s why.
Deadline and Variety have been reporting that Hangover director Todd Phillips was negotiating with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment to direct and co-write a movie based on the origins of the classic Batman villain. Martin Scorsese is also reported to be involved with the movie expected to be set in the 1980s.
Now the Hollywood Reporter says the This Is Us team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are in final negotiations to write and direct the untitled Joker/Harley film. Their NBC family drama is up for 11 Emmy Awards next month.
And the studios have confirmed that Jared Leto will return to play the Clown Prince of Crime. Even more encouraging, Margot Robbie will return to play Harley Quinn in the project, the Hollywood Reporter says.
And considering how much of Leto and Robbie’s Suicide Squad chemistry got criminally left on the cutting-room floor, a film centring on their Joker and Harley villains could prove very welcome to the DC cinematic universe.
Leto is already set to reprise his Joker role in the eventual sequel to Suicide Squad. Robbie had been attached to David Ayer’s DC Comics film Gotham City Sirens. The status of that project is unclear.
But can the Joker really carry his own movie? You can’t blame the folks at WB/DC for thinking so. Look at what the character has given them in the world of entertainment over decades.
Cesar Romero turned the Joker into a household name going up against Adam West’s campy Batman of the 1960s. Jack Nicholson put on a fake smile and wowed audiences while battling Michael Keaton’s Dark Knight in what is still one of the definitive superhero movies of all-time, 1989’s Batman.
Star Wars star Mark Hamill voiced the Joker on the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. Heath Ledger’s unforgettable performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight won him an Academy Award posthumously.
The Joker has always been a role with pop-culture sizzle — no matter the decade, no matter the actor.
It looks like the lessons of Wonder Woman’s success are guiding WB/DC as it continues to try to grow its comic bookinspired cinematic universe.
Wonder Woman, while having a slight Justice League connection, primarily was a film that took place in the past, during the First World War. It never had the “we’re trying to rush toward the Justice League” feel that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad had.
A Joker film that isn’t a part of their Justice League plans won’t be weighed down by the continuity of those connected DC movie universes.
That doesn’t mean everyone thinks this is a great idea. The reaction on social media has been mixed at best. Many fans prefer the Joker’s origins to remain a mystery.
But remember the rage that accompanied Keaton’s casting as Batman in the 1980s? And who can forget the fanboy gripes because Ledger’s Joker had a painted face and not a permanently bleached one? If you really think WB/DC will alter its seemingly bold and risky Joker movie plans because of a little Twitter rage, I’ve got a cave under Wayne Manor I can sell you.
This potential Joker movie could be the type of movie that finally begins to separate WB/DC from Marvel Studios, which, with almost a decade head start, is the undisputed king of superhero movies. Wonder Woman proved that DC movies can (finally, post-Christopher Nolan) be just as good as something Marvel Studios produces. And Marvel Studios probably isn’t planning on making a movie about any of its villains anytime soon. If there’s been one gripe with Marvel Studios, it’s that, with the exception of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and the pending arrival of Josh Brolin’s Thanos in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, its villains are OK, but nothing special.
Batman’s rogues gallery takes command of the screen, and that’s probably why WB/DC feels it can take a chance on a Joker movie. That doesn’t guarantee it will work. It’s time for DC to roll the dice and try something we haven’t seen before. The Joker is a card worth playing.