Fans of the Joker were head over heels after learning Joaquin Phoenix is about to play their favorite Batman villain, and it seems he’s up to the challenge. The first photo of the Clown Prince of Crime in the new standalone movie just dropped, and gave us a glimpse of madness lurking within.
Director Todd Phillips revealed the sneak peek on his Instagram, and took somewhat unusual approach. The first photo of the Joker comes with a simple caption “Arthur” and shows the iconic villain out of costume.
This move actually makes sense if you remember all the backlash that followed after the first photo of Jared Leto as the Joker was released. It’s innovating to show Batman’s nemesis before he embraced a life of crime, and became the villain we all know him as.
Phoenix isn’t the first Oscar nominee to embody this character on the big screen. This honor previously belonged to Jack Nicholson, Jared Leto and Heath Ledger, who won an Academy Award for his performance. Phoenix is aware he has some big shoes to fill. He admitted that scares him, but he knows Todd Phillips will help him get the job done.
“I think he’s very impressive and he seems to have a very interesting understanding of this world and what he’s trying to say. And so there is something very appealing about that and working with him on this particular project. It feels unique, it is its own world in some ways,” said Phoenix.
