Whether or not Joaquin Phoenix will portray the titular character in Todd Phillips’ untitled Joker origin film remains as unclear as ever. Last week, the three-time Oscar nominee was asked, point-blank, by Fandango if he will indeed be starring in the standalone DC pic, to which he replied with a “mischievous grin” on his face, “I don’t know… it could be an interesting character, I don’t know.”
A few days later, Entertainment Weekly proposed the same question to Phoenix, who appeared to backtrack on his Fandango comments a little, stating, “this is all super interesting. I have no idea about this. There’s absolutely nothing I could say about this subject.”
Phoenix has been affixed to the role, through no fault of his own, since early February when Variety reported that the actor was in early talks to play the Joker in the Martin Scorsese-produced movie. He’s the second A-lister to be eyed for the part, too, since the film was announced back in 2017; Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio was, at one point, thought to be a frontrunner as well.
As it just so happens, another high profile, Academy Award-winning talent thinks he’d be “perfect” for the part. In a recent sit-down with JoBlo, Nicolas Cage divulged that he thinks he’d “make a great Joker.”
“I always thought I’d make a great Joker. It would be the perfect one for me to go even more off the rails than I’ve ever done before and, y’know, it’d be fun.”
While Cage probably isn’t at the top of Warner Bros.’ list, there’s no question that he’d make the role his own. I mean, if anyone can portray a crazy maniac convincingly, it’s him.
The currently untitled Joker origin film, which is believed to take place in Gotham City during the 1980s, has been compared to a “hard-boiled crime drama.” Since it was first announced in August of last year, not much has surfaced in the realm of casting, production, or a release date, apart from rumours and speculation. Though with much of the DCEU at a loss following the disappointment that was Justice League, silence from the comic book giant isn’t all that surprising.
As always, though, we’ll keep you posted as further updates arise.
