The Joker: Then, Now & Forever

"What doesn't kill you, simply makes you stranger!"

- The Joker, The Dark Knight (2008)

Word around town is that we have another Joker in our midst. A doppelganger, shall we call it? Indeed, the Batman's nemesis is getting another new actor with a solo film set to release on October 4, 2019. But before we delve in any further, let's do a quick rewind on the Joker's infamous presence on the big screen.

The very first, and I mean the very first, actor who played the maniacal jester was Cesar Romero in the old-fashioned "The Batman Series" (1966). Then, when Batman was adapted into a film for the first time, Jack Nicholson donned the role of the hero's nemesis in 1989. This may surprise some, but Mark Hamill (the soft-spoken and pure-hearted Luke Skywalker) brought much success to the Batman TV series called "Batman: The Animated Series". And perhaps the most universally recognized Joker is (arguably still) embodied by Heath Ledger, who posthumously won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in "The Dark Knight" (2008). It is the first acting Oscar won in a superhero film ever. Soon, DC released "Suicide Squad" in their aspirations to create their own cinematic universe, in which Jared Leto will have the precious opportunity to allegedly appear in more DC films to come. Also, we can't forget Cameron Monaghan who also plays the infamous villain in the currently running episodic series Gotham. And now, we introduce ourselves to the newest Joker starring in Joker (2019), Joaquin Phoenix.

Joaquin Phoenix is a decorated actor who has received significant praise for his roles in You Were Never Really Here (2017) and Her (2013). Personally, the only sample of his acting that I had was his character Commodus in Gladiator (2009) and Jack Daglish in Hotel Rwanda (2004). Although I've had an unfortunately small taste of his illustrious career, it's an extremely interesting choice to have Joaquin Phoenix play as perhaps the most recognizable villain in comic book history who can only be described with words such as psychotic, homicidal, insane, and dangerously charismatic. I say this mainly because his role as Commodus in Gladiator lightly resembles the Joker's provocative nature of that we all know too well at this point. Other than that, there is nothing more to say about Phoenix's prospect in the upcoming Joker solo movie. An actor's repertoire can't necessarily speak for the future and we can only be impressed by what we see. However, the casting is giving a good impression in the community so far, and this is definitely an auspicious sign about the movie.

The hope is that the decisions over the new casting and the direction with the franchise will be permanent and faithful. For example, once you switch out Ben Affleck with someone else, it's a different Batman. A different Batman means that we have to forge a relationship with the character again within the same cinematic universe for the sake of continuity. But transitioning from Jared Leto to Joaquin Phoenix will be less awkward because firstly, there wasn't much relationship with the audience and Jared Leto's Joker to begin with and secondly, the new Joker film is centered around the character's origins. Even so, it was confirmed by Warner Bros. that Joker (2019) will not have any effect on the DCEU. Jared Leto's Joker because the movie is expected to be the first installment of a new series that is completely unrelated to the DCEU.

Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, by the looks of the filming process at New York City, definitely looks unorthodox and departs from the traditional appearance of the stark purple suit and the icy white face, highlighting the bloody grin. Naturally, it's easy to accept that the Joker in his amateur days would appear and act quite differently from his future counterpart. For this reason, Phoenix "borrowing" Leto's mantle for 1 film shouldn't be as jarring as replacing Ben Affleck with maybe, Armie Hammer. Even so, perhaps this Joker is not the Jack Nicholson Joker that is instilled in your mind. Maybe the voice is too dissimilar from Mark Hamill's Joker. Or the charisma is just not on par with Heath Ledger's. Whatever the case may be, these comparisons won't change the outlook of the film and only serve to confuse the viewing process. Let Joaquin Phoenix be Joaquin Phoenix.

The Joker character is notably difficult to embody on the big screen, which alone makes Joker (2019) a highly anticipated movie. It's a $55 million budget project with an unfamiliar line of cast that is directed by Todd Philips, whose previous works include Borat, War Dogs, The Hangover Trilogy. As you can tell, this is a very unique approach to making a comic book-based film. The budget is relatively low. The genre seems to be quite foreign for the director. And of course, Joaquin Phoenix will be the 7th actor to portray the Joker in a theatrical film. The only concern so far is the fact that the whole script had been rewritten during production. Phoenix lost so much weight in preparation for the role that re-shoots were impractical. Although rewrites in parts of a script are common in many movies, an entire reconstruction of the story inside out sounds chancy. Nevertheless, the entire idea of having a stand-alone film about Batman's greatest nemesis is a risky undertaking on its own. As an audience, we love to see directors and production companies take chances in order to forge something beyond a traditional formula. Joker, coming up on October 4th, 2019. Let's put a smile on that face.

Cover image created & owned by Gabriel Soares (IG: gabriel.soareszz)