Joker director Todd Phillips discussed how the Joaquin Phoenix film disregards the comic books during an interview with Empire.
While the Joker’s origin has been explored in comics and various films, director Todd Phillips’ new project will offer a brand new backstory for Joaquin Phoenix’s Clown Prince of Crime. However, while most on-screen versions of the Joker’s origin story have taken some inspiration from the comics, the latest film from Warner Bros. and DC will disregard all previous source material when exploring the beginnings of Joaquin Phoenix’s incarnation of the villain.
Director Todd Phillips explained what while he is aware of the fact that ignoring the source material will anger fans, they wanted to explore their own version of where someone like the Joker could come from:
“We didn’t follow anything from the comic-books, which people are gonna be mad about. We just wrote our own version of where a guy like Joker might come from. That’s what was interesting to me. We’re not even doing Joker, but the story of becoming Joker. It’s about this man.”
Empire also unveiled a new photo of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck tearfully applying his Joker makeup and you can check out the image below.
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Here is the official synopsis for Joker:
“Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.
Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.
Joker will be released in theaters on October 4, 2019.
Source: Empire