To celebrate the start of production on Joker earlier this week, director Todd Phillips released Joaquin Phoenix's make-up test for the role. It naturally got many fans excited with the actor's take on the Batman villain --- including former President of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson.

In a reply to the official Warner Bros. Twitter account's posting of the Joker video, Nelson commended both Phoenix and Phillips, calling the film a "great story" with a great actor in the lead and a director with a strong vision behind the camera. She went on to say this is the type of film DC should have been working on following Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. "What DC should have been doing since Nolan. Even if die hard fans struggle with his vision," Nelson said.

RELATED: Joker Camera Test Puts Makeup on Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck

Nelson took a leave of absence as President of DC Entertainment and President of Warner Bros. Consumer Products earlier this year in order to be with her family and allow her "time to recharge," with the expectation she would return at a later date. Unfortunately, just three months later, Nelson opted to step down from her position after assuming the title of DC Entertainment President since 2009 and having had worked for Warner Bros. for 22 years.

It's not entirely surprising then that despite having resigned from her position, Nelson continues to support DC. Nelson has stated she's optimistic about Joker and that, realistically, the focus should always be on a great script, director and star.

RELATED: Joaquin Phoenix Terrorizes a Subway Station as The Joker in Set Video

Directed and co-written by Todd Phillips, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character along with Robert De Niro, Marc Maron, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, and Bill Camp. It is scheduled to be released on October 4, 2019.