Robert De Niro Says His Joker Character Has a King of Comedy Connection

Robert De Niro has confirmed a theory about the connection between his character in The Joker and another Martin Scorsese film. After the trailer for the Joaquin Phoenix-starring DC film released today, several people saw a connection between the character that De Niro is seen as in the film, talk show Murray Frankin, and his role as Rupert Pupkin in the Scorsese-directed 1982 film The King of Comedy.

“There’s a connection, obviously, with the whole thing,” De Niro told IndieWire. “But it’s not as a direct connection as the character I’m playing being Rupert many years later as a host.”

In King of Comedy, Rupert is a struggling comedian who becomes fixated on a talk show host (played by Jerry Lewis). He kidnaps the host in an attempt to get a break in Hollywood, which ends in his landing his dream gig after spending time in jail, a sequence many have interpreted as a fantasy. Whether the “connection” is just that he’s playing the Jerry Lewis role to Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck or the connection is more explicit has yet to be revealed.

The Joker opens on October 4th.