It seems as if it came to us in the night, like the Bat-Signal, only with more mystery, less hoopla and a palette full of color. Warner Bros. and DC Comics appears they can’t make a movie without tripping over their own floppy clown feet, let alone announce one.
We have some origins that are announced then delayed. We have others that never come to pass. And then, there’s that pesky and possibly fictitious Snyder Cut keeps buzzing around like a fly around the July 4th barbecue — keep swatting, that damn thing is going nowhere.
Then, we get this breath of fresh air, mixed with a dose of West Coast or Hong Kong smog. Breathe in if you want, but it’s gonna hurt. Here comes news of a Todd Phillips-led movie of a different take. He chooses to delve into, arguably, the most iconic comic book villain ever. (Be honest, like you even heard of Thanos before the MCU came around.)
Meet the man behind The Joker
This frames not only who The Joker is and what he became, but a slow burn into how he got there. This appears to be a peek into his psyche. Moreover, no CGI is involved to go there. It’s a “real” glance into what made this straight man go so crooked. Unlike most origins where we get the climatic game changer we all know is coming (i.e., a loved one is killed, orphaned or ostracized by a parent), this begins with a journey between a son and his mother…before taking an awfully transparent and visceral turn.
Immediately, we are taken by the hand to meet Arthur Fleck and watch the internal struggles, the overwhelming pain, the fight for meaning, and the eventually collapse of morality to create his own dark and deranged path.
This movie will humanize a villain in ways we have never seen before — mark it down, that includes Heath Ledger’s triumphant role in The Dark Knight.
As we prepare for the second theatrical trailer by the end of this summer, which will more than likely give us a deeper perspective into Arthur Fleck’s fragmented, tortured soul, Empire has an exclusive look at the polarizing depiction Joaquin Phoenix is about to portray.
It’s the man behind the myth. The clown as the face of the crime. Origin movies are supposed to take its time with the development of a character, but we often get a rush job because fans just want to get to the action. In that trailer, we get a kid — many debate is Bruce Wayne — but that’s it. The Clown Prince of Crime probably is learning what happens as he snaps and what causes his deep neurosis into chaos.
A “snap” takes mere seconds, as we have learned in previous films. What leads up to the snap of a character’s truth should take a couple of hours. We will get that and possibly a new template for how an origin film should unfold before our eyes.
Todd Phillips will take his time and ours. This will be a memorable experience with one of the best actors going today and cause us all to put on a happy face.
Tell me, this doesn’t make you want mark your calendars for October 4?!
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