Producers of Todd Phillips’ upcoming film Joker have made it their purpose to promote the picture as a radical approach to comic book movies. But the recent remarks of one of its stars has turned this deviation from the genre into a double-edge sword of sorts.
Several days ago, actor Mark Maron’s name erupted online after he was quoted calling fans of films like Avengers: Endgame “grown, male nerd children.” Explaining that his principles were tossed aside when the opportunity came to work with Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro, he soon doubled-down on his initial comments by calling for Marvel fans to stop “acting like outraged religious fanatics.”
Now, if tripling-down is a term, Maron has done it. Following the release of Joker‘s latest trailer, the actor took the time to tweet and praise it as “a real grown-up movie.”
Oh shit! This feels like a real grown up movie! Gonna be awesome! https://t.co/H0JFWX1K39
— marc maron (@marcmaron) August 28, 2019
These rather insensitive comments will likely not bear too heavily on the pic’s success. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival tomorrow night, and screening again at the Toronto International Film Festival (at which Phoenix will also be receiving a Tribute Actor Award) in the coming weeks, Warner Bros. is putting a lot of eggs into Phillips’ basket when it comes to awards consideration.
Much of this attention is being directed towards Phoenix, of course, who’s hoping to add another Academy Award nomination to his storied career. And the few early reactions of the film we do have, including that of TIFF director Cameron Bailey, seem only to confirm that possibility.
But we’ll find out how things go for Joker once it hits theaters on October 4th.