Like it or not, Warner Bros. appears to be forging ahead with a standalone movie revolving around The Clown Prince of Crime which we've heard will be set in the 1980s delving into how he became a crime boss after failing to establish himself as a stand-up comic. Very little is known about what we should expect beyond that but it's thought Joaquin Phoenix is the current favourite to take on the role.
During a recent interview, the eccentric actor refused to confirm or deny his involvement with The Joker movie but when he was asked if he feels intimidated by what Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger did with the character (something which earned the actor an Oscar), it doesn't sound like he's at all bothered by that and would actually be up for the challenge on putting his own stamp on him.
"I don’t know about that movie or character specifically, but I was thinking about it’s interesting with comics there’s different writers and artists that come on. It’s different than this character from literature being uniquely that. There are different interpretations. It’s so interesting; I was just thinking about it today, it seems so unique in some ways to comic books. I think there’s probably room for that. Maybe it’s like doing a play, like you always hear about people doing something, ‘You should have seen this actor in this performance,’ but then other actors do it and it’s a different kind of film. I think that genre, comic books, kind of lends itself to having different people play the same character and interpret it in a different way. It’s kind of built into the source material in some ways. I think it’s cool when people do that."
There's no denying that Phoenix could make an incredible Joker but with an Oscar winner like Jared Leto struggling to receive a positive response for his unique take on the character, it could be an uphill battle (especially as it doesn't sound like this spinoff will be sticking all that closely to the source material). What do you guys think? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts down below.