Bryan Callen Cast in ‘Joker’ Origin Movie

It looks like Todd Phillips has cast a familiar face for his upcoming Joker movie.

Actor and comedian Bryan Callen recently revealed that he has a role in the upcoming DC Films venture on his The Fighter & The Kid podcast.

“I’m doing the Joker.” Callen explained. “I was offered a part. That’ll be fun, but i think it’s only a couple days. Play an aging dancer, stripper. I don’t want to go into the details. I can’t go into the details, but just know it’s gonna be good. And I hope my psoriasis is flaring cause that’ll be very funny. I’ll be in a Speed-O, I can’t wait. I have some ideas for it.”

Callen has worked with Phillips in the past, previously playing Eddie in the first two Hangover films. His other roles include appearing on MADtv, The Goldbergs, and and Oz.

Joining Callen in Joker will be Joaquin Phoenix as the film’s titular role, alongside Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, and Marc Maron.

The film, which is expected to begin production this September, will be directed by Phillips and executive produced by Martin Scorcese. 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.”

Are you excited to see Callen join the cast of Joker? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Joker is expected to debut in theaters on October 4, 2019. Upcoming DC Extended Universe films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019.