Geekery: First Trailer for ‘Joker’ Introduces a New Clown Prince
Todd Phillips’ take on the classic villain of Gotham finally has a full trailer that sets the tone of this origin story. There’s been a lot of discussion about this movie since the on set photos started showing up on the internet – it’s going to be one of those polarizing projects that the fandom will argue over for years.
Joaquin Phoenix has some giant shoes to fill after Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance. This is a different story, though. Keep this quote from Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke while you watch: “All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.”
This first trailer makes it clear that it’s not aiming to be another Snyder or Jenkins DC movie. It doesn’t look like any of the other recent movies out of the studio – it looks like a character study, almost an art house film. It’s something we haven’t really seen in comic book movies, it’s different and ballsy. The production design puts it smack in the middle of 1970s, a time when cinema was telling a lot of dark, gritty tales set in big cities (the initial rumors on the story is that it takes major cues from Scorsese’s King of Comedy). The color pallet looks to be inspired by those movies, as well. I don’t usually use beautiful as an adjective for comic book movies – but, this is.
I’m really hoping that the Waynes don’t play into the story. Let it be a Joker movie, not a retconned Batman movie. Let it stand on its own. An examination of a life gone horribly sideways in Gotham.
With this first look, as well as the cast (Joaquin Phoenix is a brilliant choice to take on the role) and the production team, I’m expecting good things and will be buying a ticket. I’m not sure if it’ll go over well with the broad fandom, though.
Joker hits theaters October 4th.
