Here’s why a Joker movie could work

Why so serious? The Joker may be getting his own movie, that’s why.

Deadline and Variety are reporting that “The Hangover” director Todd Phillips is 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 also is rumored to be involved with the still-untitled film that will reportedly be set in the 1980s.

Where does this leave the current Joker, Jared Leto?

Deadline reports that while Leto is set to reprise his role as the Joker in the eventual sequel to “Suicide Squad,” as well as the David Ayer-directed, Harley Quinn/Margot Robbie starring “Gotham City Sirens,” the Joker in this new origin movie probably will be played by a different actor.

Time to roll the dice

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 1989’s “Batman.” Heath Ledger’s unforgettable performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” won him an Academy Award posthumously.

It looks like the lessons of “Wonder Woman’s” success are guiding WB/DC as it continues to try to grow its comic-book-inspired cinematic universe.

“Wonder Woman,” while having a slight “Justice League” connection, was a film that took place in the past, during World War I. 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.

This potential Joker movie could be the type of move 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 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, its villains are OK, but nothing special. Rarely stealing the show.