It’s official! DC’s moving ahead with its Joker origins movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime. As you can guess from the absence of Jared Leto from the project, the film won’t be part of the DC Extended Universe and as such, it’s not expected to particularly tie into the wider DCEU or even feature Batman himself. However, new details suggest that one character with a major connection to the Dark Knight will play an important role.
On the latest episode of Collider’s Movie Talk, Jeff Sneider responded to the rumors that Robert De Niro will be taking a supporting part in the production and claimed that he believes the legendary actor won’t be playing a familiar comic book character. What’s perhaps more interesting, though, is that he says someone very close to Bruce Wayne will have a major part in the pic.
“As for De Niro’s role, I don’t think he’s playing some canon type character. I don’t think he’s playing like a local TV host or something like that, who’s maybe broadcasting about the Joker. I’m not entirely sure. I do know that one character who’s going to have a big role in this is Thomas Wayne.”
If we can trust Sneider’s information, the fact that Thomas Wayne’s heavily involved in the story might tell us something about when the Joker movie’s set. If the Waynes are still alive, that means Bruce is either not around yet or still a young boy when his future nemesis is reborn as a supervillain. Maybe Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker will pull a Jack Nicholson and be the one to murder Batman’s parents in the movie, much like in the 1989 film?
Presumably, we won’t have to wait too long for some more concrete details to come our way, as Warner Bros. is expected to dish the dirt on the Joker origins movie, from director Todd Phillips and producer Martin Scorsese, at next week’s San Diego Comic-Con. In the meantime, though, feel free to drop a comment down below letting us know how you think Thomas Wayne may factor into things.