Joaquin Phoenix And His Clown Army Storm The Subway In New Joker Set Pics

As much of the filming is taking place in New York City, we’re getting a pretty good look at how WB’s Joker movie is coming together.

So far, set photos and videos have taken us through Arthur Fleck’s transformation from downtrodden comedian to clown-themed criminal, with evidence suggesting that Joaquin Phoenix is going to kill it in the role. Now, some new pics showcase the supervillain up to more mischief, as he leads his clown gang into Gotham City’s subway.

You might be wondering how the Joker could be the star of his own movie, but these set photos support something that was suggested by prior shots from the set. And that’s that Phoenix’s incarnation of the character looks to be cast as an unlikely hero of the people. Previous pics showed the crowd lapping up the Joker’s words and attacking Thomas Wayne, the future father of Bruce. Likewise, the ones above see Joker’s clowns armed with placards and signs reading: “Kill the rich.”

Turning Mr. J into a sort of warped advocate for social change is an intriguing new take on Batman’s nemesis, though you can see how you could extrapolate that idea from the comics. The Joker movie’s known to be vaguely inspired by The Killing Joke, which establishes that the Clown Prince was initially a working-class guy just trying to do right by his wife and unborn child, until he fell in with a bad crowd.

This could also give the movie a chance to tackle that old question about Batman’s methods of crime-fighting. Instead of blowing all his cash on cool gadgets and cars, why not put his funds into clearing up the poorer areas of Gotham? Perhaps what makes the Clown Prince of Crime so popular with the people of the city is because he’s asking the same thing of Bruce’s pops, Thomas.

We’ll keep you posted as more Joker set photos and videos come in, but for now, feel free to share your early impressions of the film down below.