RUMOR: Joker Origin Movie Will Give Him a Drastically New Alter Ego

CBR

By Eirik Gumeny

Published Jul 20, 2018

Not only is the Joker getting a new origin in his solo film, a report indicates he may share an insanely close tie to Bruce Wayne.

Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Joker could be giving the Clown Prince of Crime a brand-new alter ego, along with a backstory that bears little resemblance to anything that’s come before, either on film or in print.

According to a report by That Hashtag Show, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is rumored to begin the film as a struggling comedian by the name of Arthur Fleck, a man who returns to Gotham to take care of his ailing mother Penny, only to find “a city on the brink” waiting for him. This, possibly, is the inciting event that will drive Fleck to clown-themed madness. The movie is described as an “exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.”

That Hashtag Show also posits that a “cheesy, tanned and rich-looking” Thomas Wayne will be in the film, and could, in fact, be the Joker’s father. Fleck’s mother Penny, meanwhile, is described as “very attractive in her youth” and “obsessed with her former employer.” The website further claims that – and this is, by their own admission, a “crazy” rumor – a televised interview with Thomas Wayne could compel Fleck’s dying mother to “spin the true tale of her son’s parentage,” further pushing him toward playing cards and purple suits.

Additionally, the website reports that Robert DeNiro will be playing late-night talk show host Murray Franklin, while Zazie Beetz will play a single mother named Sophie Dumond.

While previous rumors have hinted that the movie would be a hard-boiled crime film roughly following the plot of 1988’s Batman: The Killing Joke, no Joker story has ever involved an alter-ego by the name of Arthur Fleck, so all bets are off as to the final shape this film will take. Especially since the Joker is set to be the first of an Elseworlds-style film imprint, separate from the DC Extended Universe.

Todd Phillips' upcoming movie is one of an astonishing six films featuring the Joker currently in the works at Warner Bros. Jared Leto’s version is set to appear in the Harley Quinn solo film, Birds of Prey, Suicide Squad 2, the untitled Joker and Harley Quinn film, and another solo project, which Leto will not only star in but produce.

Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, directed by Todd Phillips, and produced by Martin Scorsese, is set to film in New York starting in September, and is slated to be in theaters on October 4, 2019.