The first Joker trailer has finally arrived, showing us the first footage of Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime.
Directed by Todd Phillips, the new Joker movie was described at CinemaCon this week as a ‘tragedy,’ and while a trailer is not enough to judge a film by, that certainly appears accurate.
To say this film is a radical departure for the Joker as a character would be an understatement. As fans of the comics – and even the movies know – he tends to have a messy origin that changes constantly. With the exception of Jack Nicholson’s origin in Batman, it’s never super definitive. To tell a story of how the Joker came to be, and without a Batman in the story? It’s going to be interesting to see how general audiences accept this.
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck along with Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.
Joker hits theaters on Oct. 4, 2019.
