Thoughts on the Joker Teaser

Let me get this out of the way before we jump into things. I’m more excited to see the Joker than I am Avengers: Endgame.

Before you rush to the comments to call for my head, let’s talk about it.

First, that doesn’t mean I’m not excited about Endgame. I am. It’s just that the Joker has been on my radar from the start and it was plenty of components that I was curious to see come together.

When it comes to the big screen, we’ve had some really mesmerizing portrayals of the Crown Prince of Crime. Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger brought different angles of brilliance to the role and they are still discussed today. For good reason.

Jared Leto…I’ll leave that to you to discuss.

When Warner Bros. announced the Joker project, many scratched their heads at giving a clear villain his own movie. Joaquin Phoenix was announced to play the lead and received minimal pushback thanks to his history of committing to a role and choosing projects that were intriguing, if nothing else.

As we got more bit and pieces about the movie, some bristled at this being a origin movie, asking if we really needed to go into detail about his early, pre-Joker days. Would Batman make an appearance? Is this part of the continuity or solely exists on its own?

All legit questions and concerns.

The first teaser for Joker which this past week and while it didn’t do much to answer some of the queries about director Todd Phillips’s vision, it did more than enough to get everyone excited and talking about it.

It looks fascinating and pulled me in from the first moment. More so than most other superhero movies.

Phillips and Phoenix have crafted a worthy character study of the Joker and that’s something we don’t get much of on the big screen. Something smaller in scope. We have a plethora of big budget, action crammed, special effects laden movies that blow us away.

Which is fine but sometimes you want a home cooked meal after eating at a buffet every night.

Being a lifelong comic book reader, I’m at the point where I know how the puppet show works. I’ve seen the strings. All the tropes, twists, and story beats. That transfers over to the big screen. I feel pretty confident how Endgame will end. And those deaths that are supposed to happen that we’ve been reading about? Well, we know how deaths go in comic books.

Warner Bros has said Phoenix will not be the Joker who appears in its extended DC cinematic universe. I’m OK with this. Sometimes a single story, well told, is better than a sprawling epic. And please don’t think I’m harping on Endgame. The set up has been great but I’m ready for something that I can watch and be content with that one movie.

This might be a lot to take from a teaser but seeing Phoenix creating magic in the short time we see him is exciting.

Hearing his Joker laugh. Standing in the elevator with a patient in Arkham Hospital. His scenes with his mother. Pulling his mouth to form a grotesque smile. All glimpses of hope that movie will nail it.

I’ll be there opening night.