In just a few months, Joker will cap off what’s proven to be an incredible year for comic book movies. Granted, it’ll be much different than your usual summer blockbuster fare, but I wouldn’t expect anything less for one of fiction’s most vile men.
To the chagrin of some, it’s worth noting how director Todd Phillips’ exploration of the Clown Prince of Crime won’t follow the source material, and will be an original story. Then again, that was the impression I’d gotten from the start. Instead of chronicling “one bad day,” we’ll witness one man’s gradual descent into madness.
As you may have heard, the North American premiere will go down at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. Complementing the prestigious event are three images that can be viewed in the gallery below. Suffice it to say, any little appetizer is much appreciated.
From what I can tell, the Ace of Knaves will give Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker a run for his money when it comes to who can bust the best moves. Well, that’s what comes to mind when I look at the first entry into the slideshow.
As for the others, the second shows the titular character applying some clown makeup, with the third simply showing Arthur Fleck freaking out while riding the bus. I’m guessing there will be a variety of moments showing him making normal people uncomfortable throughout our viewing experience.
According to Phillips, he hopes this’ll be the first in a series of lower budget comic book movies to rival Marvel Studios’ success:
“I said ‘Let JOKER be the first, then let’s get f-cking great filmmakers to come in.’ Instead of trying to live in the shadow of the beast (MCU), let’s do something they can’t – $30 million budgets, no CGI hoopla. Let’s strip that all away. It’ll be liberating.”
We’ll find out how well that goes once Joker arrives in theaters on October 4th.