Despite coming off an insanely strong showing at San Diego Comic-Con, in which the comic book juggernaut delighted the crowd with the first teaser for Shazam!, shared some unpolished Wonder Woman 1984 footage, and finally unleashed the first Aquaman trailer, DC has no interest in taking a breather. And seeing as the WB subsidiary is finally able to bask in the spotlight, rather than flee from it, that’s saying a lot.
In case you missed it – yeah, right – Warner Bros. greenlit their Joker origin film recently, and with a trio of Academy Award calibre talent on board in the form of producer Martin Scorsese, star Joaquin Phoenix and writer Scott Silver, it’s easy to see why.
Set to take place in Gotham City during the 1980s, Joker has been compared to a “hard-boiled crime drama” and is rumored to feature the Clown Prince of Crime as a failed comedian. Apart from that, however, everything not disclosed to the public remains under lock and key.
Thankfully, then, ComicBook.com has got a description on another “strong supporting” character set to appear in the film, which you can check out for yourself below.
MR. WARNER Supporting Male (60-70) [MR. WARNER] male, Caucasian, 60s, a deeply-tanned, hair dyed so black it was almost blue, highly successful, New York City businessman, rumoured to be running for Mayor. He’s a public figure in the city and a symbol of wealth [STRONG SUPPORTING]
I don’t know about you, but to me, that certainly sounds like it could be Rupert Thorne, “a corrupt politician turned crime boss, who proved to be a thorn in Batman’s side throughout the years.” We could be wrong here, of course, but the film is said to have some ties to the Dark Knight, so don’t rule it out.
Aside from Joaquin Phoenix – who’ll be portraying the titular jester – all we really know for sure regarding the cast is that WB was looking at Frances McDormand for the role of his mother, which unfortunately fell through. Deadpool 2 star Zazie Beetz is said to be in talks for a major role though, and ditto for Robert De Niro, but until we receive confirmation from the studio nothing’s etched in stone. That said, the cast and crew should continue to fall into place now as WB and DC see fit, and as soon as we hear more about Joker, we’ll be sure to let you know.