‘The Joker’ Confirmed to Be an Origin Story

One of Batman’s greatest villains will get his own spotlight later this year as DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures are giving The Joker his own spinoff movie. Instead of featuring the version we’ve already scene from Suicide Squad, the new movie will instead introduce a new interpretation of the character played by Joaquin Phoenix.

Comedian and actor Marc Maron also joined the cast of the film, and he recently revealed new detailed about what fans can expect from The Joker . The actor revealed that fans can expect an origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime.

“I think it’s a very interesting approach to this world,” Maron explained to NME. “I’ve been somewhat judgemental when it comes to comic book movies and I’ve got a little pushback in the press for being a hypocrite. Whatever I think, if you get a call and someone says, ‘Hey do you wanna do a scene with Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix?’ your principals fall to the wayside.”

He went on to explain that director Todd Phillips is using the opportunity to dig deep into the psyche of the character, much like the original graphic novels Joker and The Killing Joke.

“If it’s relative to what I think of Marvel movies then it’s like, ‘Yeah, of course I’m gonna do that’. Oddly, it’s not that kind of movie. The approach that Todd Phillips has taken is more of an origin story and a character study of a mentally ill person that becomes The Joker,” Maron said. “It’s more of an intimate and gritty movie with a very specific scope. It’s going to be really interesting to see how it comes out.”

Maron sounds like Phoenix himself, who also intimated that he wouldn’t just sign up for any random superhero movie. But the project was enticing to both actors, and Phoenix revealed his own intentions for joining The Joker.

“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,” Phoenix previously told Collider. “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.”

The Joker premieres in theaters on October 4th.