Watch Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ Movie Chase Scene

Next year, DC Comics fans will be treated to an origin film focusing on Batman‘s greatest nemesis when Joaquin Phoenix becomes the Joker.

The upcoming film promises to be an action-packed character study, showing how one person could become the Clown Prince of Crime. And with the movie now filming in New York City, fans have been getting some glimpses into what they can expect when Joker premieres in theaters next year.

Take a look at the clip above to see Phoenix in character in an epic chase scene with the police!

The first synopsis for the upcoming movie was only just released, promising an in-depth look at the origin of the super villain:

“Joker centers around the iconic arch-nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. The exploration of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.”

While the movie could be classified as a part of the superhero genre, Phoenix declared that it’s anything but while speaking with Collider.

“I wouldn’t quite classify this as like any genre,” Phoenix said in a recent interview. “I wouldn’t say it’s a superhero movie, or a studio movie or a … It feels unique, and I think more then anything, and probably the most important thing, is Todd seems very passionate about it and very giving, and so that’s exciting. I think, underneath the excitement of these films, and the size of them, there are these incredible characters that are dealing with real life struggles. And sometimes that is uncovered and exposed, and sometimes it isn’t, and so I always felt, like, there were characters in comics that were really interesting and deserve the opportunity to be kind of studied. And so I think that’s what Todd sees appealing about this idea.”

A role like the Joker doesn’t seem like one that would normally interest Phoenix, but he’ll be following in the footsteps of acclaimed and award-winning talents like Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and Jared Leto.

“I take a lot of time and consideration when making decisions and what I’m gonna work on, always.” Phoenix added. “So, in some ways, the process, which is obviously reading a script and meeting a filmmaker and then continuing to have meetings and discussions with Todd [Phillips]. I think he’s very impressive and he seems to have a very interesting understanding of this world and what he’s trying to say. And so there is something very appealing about that and working with him on this particular project. It feels unique, it is its own world in some ways, and maybe, mostly, it scares the f-cking sh-t out of me or something. It might as well be the thing that scares you the most.”

Joker premieres in theaters on October 4, 2019.