What’s the history of ‘The People’s Joker,’ the unofficial Batman trans parody DC tried to censor?

After two years in distribution hell, The People’s Joker is finally available in theaters. It’s no wonder the movie took so long to release, as DC and Warner Bros. Discovery aren’t happy at all about this unofficial trans parody of Batman.

The People’s Joker began its development journey as a re-edit of Todd Phillips’ Joker, commissioned by Bri LeRose to Vera Drew after the director complained about “woke culture” destroying comedy. While working on the re-edit Drew began to imagine how the project could look if it were expanded as a trans coming-of-age story. So, Drew and LeRose partnered up to write the script for a parody movie about gender, sexuality, and figuring out who you are. Drew also directed the project and starred as the lead character, Joker the Harlequin.

The People’s Joker was put together during the pandemic, a period in which we all reflected on our identity and the importance of human connection. After that, Drew and the team behind the crowd-funded movie decided to take the project to film festivals. The People’s Joker‘s first stop was 2022’s Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie was scheduled for multiple screenings. However, after its premiere, The People’s Joker was pulled from the festival due to “rights issues.” The movie also disappeared from other festivals’ programs, which many thought could be the end of the parody. However, Drew kept working behind the scenes to give her semi-autobiographical story a commercial distribution, which finally happened in 2024.

Did The People’s Joker infringe on DC IP rights?

According to Drew, before The People’s Joker premiere at TIFF, she received an “angry letter” from “a media conglomerate that shall remain nameless,” trying to pressure her not to show her movie. Warner Bros. Discovery never commented on the matter, but it’s hard to imagine any other company would have issues with someone using DC characters without their authorization.

It’s worth remembering that Warner prohibited the raunchy animated Harley Quin from depicting Batman going down on Catwoman because “heroes don’t do that.” Warner Bros. Discovery also locked Batgirl in a vault for a few tax dollars, a nearly complete movie featuring Ivory Aquino, a trans star, as the DCEU’s first trans character.

While there’s no official information about the legal battle behind closed doors, Warner Bros. Discovery couldn’t prevent The People’s Joker from eventually appearing on the silver screen. Drew’s movie is protected by U.S. copyright legislation, which allows fair use of protected IPs. Since The People’s Joker warns the public it is a parody and takes every precaution to respect the law, there’s absolutely no way a studio can do more than delay its release. 

So, in July 2023, The People’s Joker had its American premiere as part of Los Angeles’ Outfest film festival. A limited release in the U.S. followed on April 5, 2024. So far, the movie has been a hit, with distributor Altered Innocence expanding its theatrical run towards more cities and theaters. That means instead of killing the project, the “unnamed media conglomerate” just gave The People’s Joker more publicity, to the point where it became viral.

The People’s Joker is currently screening in select theaters.