New Fan Art Shows How Joaquin Phoenix Would Look As The Joker

If you’ve been baffled by the news coming out of Burbank pertaining to DC-related films as of late – especially anything involving the Joker – then take solace in knowing that you aren’t alone. Though few of us expect but a handful of the myriad of DC movies thus far “announced” to actually see the light of day, it certainly doesn’t help matters when two of those are headlined by competing versions of the same character.

As you may recall, word recently got out that Jared Leto is backing a picture focused on his version of the Clown Prince of Crime, spinning out of Suicide Squad. And though it merely exists as an idea at this point and has no crew to speak of, the very prospect of it becoming a reality left folks to wonder what it meant for Todd Phillips’ Joker origin movie.

Strangely enough, Phillips’ project starring Joaquin Phoenix is still alive at Warner Bros., despite not taking place within the DC Extended Universe. Previously rumored to have gone into production in May, we now know that not to be the case. But as we learned not long ago, a fall start date is being eyed, with a proposed budget of $55 million. That may be a fraction of what other grandiose comic book movies may cost to make, sure, but we’re to expect a smaller scale crime drama in this case.

So, while we ponder what Phoenix will look like with green hair, perma-white skin, and with a dashing suit to complete the ensemble, artist Will Gray has given us a fine idea of what the end result could very well look like over on Instagram.

Even as a huge fan of the character, it’s hard for me to pinpoint which take on the Ace of Knaves Gray was referencing in this instance because, believe it or not, Batman’s greatest foe has been known to wear colors other than purple on various occasions. If you were to ask me, either Alex Ross or Greg Capullo’s works were kept in mind during the creative process, but I could be wrong.

Right now, the Joker movie has no concrete release date, but 2020 seems like a solid bet if everything’s kept on track. Taking the above info into account, all signs point toward this beating Leto’s effort to the finish line and, quite frankly, I hope it does.