The awesome new trailer for Joker has really turned some heads. Joaquin Phoenix looks like he’s going to live up to the hype, the politics of the film are absolutely fascinating and there’s an undercurrent of menace to the whole thing that really tickles my oysters. One aspect that sets Joker apart from most other contemporary superhero movies though is that it takes place in its own universe. That may change if the pic is a big hit and Warner Bros. decides the Jokerverse is the next big thing, but for now, it may be a one and done drama.
Redditor Ferdinando_Fallica, who’s an incredibly attentive viewer, has noticed that there may be a very subtle connection to Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in the trailer though. This comes in the scene set outside a movie theatre, where we see a poster for John Boorman’s 1981 Excalibur. If you’ll recall, at the beginning of Batman V Superman, we see the doomed Waynes leaving a movie theatre with the exact same poster displayed outside. It seems like too much of a coincidence to have the same poster on both sets, so what gives?
Well, it could indicate that the films share a set dresser, but a quick skim through IMDb doesn’t turn up any matches. It could be a subtle nod towards Zack Snyder then, who many in the movie community consider to have been treated extremely shabbily during the making of Justice League. It could even be a very obscure outside bet by Warner Bros. that if Joker‘s a smash hit they can retroactively fold it into the DCEU, perhaps by saying that the Jared Leto Joker was inspired by the Joaquin Phoenix one.
Whatever the case, it’s an intriguing detail. Perhaps we’ll never get to the bottom of this, but regardless, I’m seriously impressed that someone actually noticed this in the first place.