Joker Origin Movie Reportedly Adds Three New Crew Members

DC's standalone Joker movie remains a bit of an enigma, but it looks like the film's cast is shaping up pretty nicely behind-the-scenes.

According to a new report from Omega Underground, visual effects supervisor Edwin Rivera will be joining the upcoming project. Rivera has a pretty varied filmography when it comes to visual effects, ranging from Marvel Cinematic Universe projects Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, to Titanic and 22 Jump Street.

An additional report by That Hashtag Show suggests that Rivera isn't be the only crew member to recently join the project. Production designer Mark Friedberg (Across the Universe, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and costume designer Mark Bridges (Boogie Nights, Phantom Thread) have also reportedly signed on.

The film, which is expected to begin production this September, will be directed by Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix. In March, a report suggested that the film would follow the Joker as an '80s comedian, who turns to a life of crime after his stand-up career fails. And as it turns out, Phoenix has had that sort of idea kicking around in his head for quite some time.

"Three or four years ago, I called my agent and said 'Why don't they want to take one of these characters and just make a lower budget film about it, a movie but a character study, and why not take one of the villains?'" Phoenix revealed in a recent interview. "And I thought, 'You can't do the Joker, because, you know, it's just you can't do that character, it's just been done.' So I was trying to think of other characters, and he said 'I'll set up a general meeting with Warner Bros.' And I said 'I'm not gonna go, I can't go to a general meeting.' So I completely forgot about it, and so then I heard about this idea, I was like, 'Oh that's so exciting, that's the kind of experience I wanted to have, with a movie based on a comic character.' I felt like you could get something on screen."

This standalone project is just one of the Joker-related movies that DC currently has in production. Last month, it was announced that Warner Bros. is developing a solo movie surrounding Jared Leto's Joker, which would exist within the DCEU world.

Are you excited to see how this Joker origin movie takes shape? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Upcoming DC Extended Universe films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019.