Martin Scorsese Decided Not To Direct JOKER As He Struggled With Cracking The Comic Book Story

Martin Scorsese Decided Not To Direct JOKER As He Struggled With Cracking The Comic Book Story

Martin Scorsese has confirmed that he was at one point considering taking the helm of Joker, but ultimately couldn't figure out how to transform the character into the one from the comic books...

By JoshWilding - Nov 05, 2019 03:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Joker
If there's one thing that's become clear in recent weeks, it's that The Irishman director Martin Scorsese really doesn't like comic book movies. This confused fans because he was once linked to Joker, but despite recent denials from his team that he was ever planning to direct the DC Comics adaptation, it's now been revealed that he was toying with the idea for four years! 

"I know the film very well," the legendary filmmaker reveals. "I know [director Todd Phillips] very well. My producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff produced it. I thought about it a lot over the last four years and decided I did not have the time for it. It was personal reasons why I didn’t get involved. But I know the script very well. It has a real energy and Joaquin. You have remarkable work."

Ultimately, it sounds like what put Scorsese off the project was the fact that Arthur Fleck would ultimately be transformed into the maniacal Clown Prince of Crime from the comic books. "For me, ultimately, I don’t know if I make the next step into this character developing into a comic book character," he admitted. "You follow? He develops into an abstraction."

"It doesn’t mean it’s bad art, it’s just not for me…The superhero films, as I’ve said, are another art form." Shockingly, it was then the director said something quite nice about the genre! "They are not easy to make. There’s a lot of very talented people doing good work and a lot of young people really, really enjoy them."

Check out more of Scorsese's Joker remarks in the player below:

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dracula
dracula - 11/5/2019, 3:04 AM
Yeah, can't really see him doing a comic book movie of any kind.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 11/5/2019, 3:35 AM
@dracula - He could if its grounded in reality and realistic. Similar to A History Violence, Road to perdition, Joker, etc.
dracula
dracula - 11/5/2019, 3:55 AM
@mastakilla39 - Maybe something like Gotham Central
Makiveli21
Makiveli21 - 11/5/2019, 8:21 AM
@dracula - someone tell this old man to sit down and shut up already. We get it you hate superheroes now F off!
dracula
dracula - 11/5/2019, 3:05 AM
With or without him, Joker is doing fine
soberchimera
soberchimera - 11/5/2019, 5:56 AM
@dracula - Well.......not that one.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 11/5/2019, 3:09 AM
He still made a pretty back-handed comment. "A lot of young people really, really enjoy them."

Movies don't make a billion, or two billion dollars simply because young people like them.

He just can't help himself. He thinks less of the genre and the type of people that go and see them.
Bucht
Bucht - 11/5/2019, 3:46 AM
@CorndogBurglar - He's 76 though. From his point of view everyone is young.
thewanderer
thewanderer - 11/5/2019, 4:59 AM
@CorndogBurglar - hey, if he wants to call me young he can call me young.
Makiveli21
Makiveli21 - 11/5/2019, 8:22 AM
@CorndogBurglar - godfather 3 sucked. This guy needs to stop believing his own hype.
GreedoSarducci
GreedoSarducci - 11/5/2019, 3:12 AM
Make up your goddamn mind, Marty.
DEVWoulf
DEVWoulf - 11/5/2019, 3:22 AM
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/11/05/martin-scorsese-expands-on-and-defends-his-marvel-films-are-not-cinema-comments

He's clearly not a fan, but I get what he's saying: Small, deeper films deserve the limelight and revenues just as much. And as a lover of classic dramas I completely agree. But as comic fan I waited years and years for good versions of these characters and stories on-screen. I seriously dreamed of it as a kid; we all did. This past decade I've gotten it in spades and loved every second of it. And I'm hungry for more. Much more... Thank you, Marty.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 11/5/2019, 3:27 AM
@DevarikaWoulf - It does bug me that some of the same folks who have mountains of gangster movies, westerns, crime dramas, romantic comedies, or whatever genre it is they like can't just be politely happy for fans of superheroes. Now that the technology and media culture is ripe for comic adaptations, we're finally getting three or four of them a year.

But all they seem to want to do is grumble about it.
OmegaDaGrodd
OmegaDaGrodd - 11/5/2019, 3:22 AM
"He Struggled With Cracking The Comic Book Story"

Based on the script so did Todd Phillips

Spidey91
Spidey91 - 11/5/2019, 3:57 AM
@OmegaDaGrodd -
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 11/5/2019, 3:31 AM
So its kinda like jealousy why he thinks different about cbms
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