Martin Scorsese And The Director Of THE HANGOVER Are Making A Joker Origin Movie

Literally what?

By Aug. 22, 2017

According to Deadline...

"Warner Bros and DC are in the early stages of another Batman Universe spinoff movie, this one telling the origin story of the signature villain The Joker. The studio has set The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips to co-write a script with 8 Mile scribe Scott Silver. Phillips will direct the movie, and Martin Scorsese will produce it with Phillips."

So, there's an unusual amount of things to unpack here, including:

  • The director of The Hangover writing a Joker origin movie
  • The writer of 8 Mile writing a Joker origin movie
  • Martin Scorsese producing a Joker origin movie
  • The very existence of a Joker origin movie 

But wait, there's more! Deadline also says the intention here is to create a Joker movie that "isn’t part of any other iteration", which is a very political way of saying "This one won't have Jared Leto in it." Leto, of course, is slated to reprise his Suicide Squad role in that film's sequel (as well as the Harley Quinn movie we haven't heard anything about in a while), but this Joker will be played by a newcomer, with Deadline saying it will be "possibly a younger actor."

There's also this:

"The intention is to make a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or The King Of Comedy."

So on top of everything else, a Joker origin movie in the vein of early Scorsese films? Will wonders never cease.

Honestly, folks, it's going to take us a minute to wrap our heads around this one. For now, we leave the above news in your capable hands. Please dissect and debate at your leisure in the comments below, and once the Birth.Movies.Death. staff is fully recovered, we may be back with some further thoughts.

Until then, have at it in the comments.

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