He Will Play A Failed 80s Stand-up Comic
Robert De Niro is in negotiations for the upcoming Joker origin story. This news, as well as Joaquin Phoenix’s confirmation to play the legendary nemesis of The Dark Knight, is quite a coup for DC.
The Hashtag Show suggests De Niro would be playing a talk show host that pushes the future Joker into becoming a villain.
The Joker movie has been described as a “gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City”, so it’d be a great fit for someone like De Niro.
This little nugget might also explain why the film curiously has Martin Scorsese on board as producer, since the legendary director dealt with a similar subject matter in King Of Comedy, starring De Niro, which also sees a frustrated comic turn to crime.
As we reported last month, this particular movie will be taking place outside of the continuity of the current DCEU movies. It will exist in its own universe and Warner Bros. is set to launch an alternate production banner for this Joker origin movie and future projects like it.
Todd Phillips (The Hangover) will begin shooting this September in New York.
