‘Joker’ Fan Art Imagines Joaquin Phoenix as Batman’s Greatest Villain

Fan art created by William Gray took a stab at re-imagining Joker star Joaquin Phoenix as an old school-looking clown prince of crime.

The Todd Phillips-directed Joker will re-imagine the world of Batman as an ’80s crime film with a dark and gritty tone. Standing separate from the DC Extended Universe — home to Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jared Leto’s Joker — Joker reportedly adapts famed Alan Moore-scripted The Killing Joke, which acted as a sort-of origin tale for Batman’s future arch foe, who in this continuity was a down-on-his-luck failed comedian.

Phillips’ spin on the iconic character is said to borrow inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, and is rumored to reveal the character was tormented in his youth.

“It’s dark. It’s like a dark Joker. As a kid, he had a permanent smile and everyone made fun of him. It’s like on the streets of Brooklyn. It’s super dark and real,” said former MMA fighter Brendan Schuab, who is friends with Phillips’ agent Todd Feldman.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the film is said to heavily feature Thomas Wayne — father of future Batman Bruce Wayne — who is famously gunned down alongside his wife Martha on Gotham City’s crime-ridden streets. Earlier this week, Alec Baldwin was briefly attached to the role before backing out.

The since-vacated role has yet to be filled. Baldwin’s replacement will join a cast that includes Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2) as downtrodden single mother Sophie Dumond, and Marc Maron (GLOW), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story) and Robert De Niro (The Godfather: Part II) in unannounced roles.

Two weeks before cameras roll on Joker, paparazzi photos revealed a noticeably thinner Phoenix. The three-time Academy Award-nominated actor said in recent weeks he nearly pitched to Warner Bros. a Joker-centric standalone movie in 2015.

“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 said.

“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.”

Joker opens October 4, 2019.