Last week, news broke that DC Films and Warner Bros. were developing multiple new films that involve the Joker, in what I am now calling "The Week of Endless Jokes." Of the projects, which include a Joker-Harley Quinn crime romance, the biggest is that a Joker origin movie, independent of the DCEU, is in development, with Martin Scorsese set to produce. While DC has yet to confirm this officially, new details are starting to trickle out about the project and it comes from an unusual source. Former MMA fighter Brendan Schaub spills the beans on some Joker plot details, saying:
...It's dark. It's like a dark Joker. Like how as a kid he had a permanent smile, and everyone made fun of him. It's like on the streets of Brooklyn. It's super dark and real.
Brendan Schaub, a former MMA fighter who has made the transition to Hollywood, was a guest on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, where he unexpectedly dished on some details about the proposed Joker origin movie. Schraub didn't have much to offer other than that the film would be "dark" and "real," which sounds par for the course for a movie about the early days of the maniac clown. Schaub also mentioned that The Joker will have had his iconic grin since childhood, which made him a target for bullies. As to how Schraub came about this information, he evidently shares the same manager as Todd Phillips, who is reportedly the director and writer of the project. So one could assume that Schraub heard it secondhand through the grapevine.
While not exactly the most enlightening of details, this is about what I'd expect from a Joker origin movie. The project is supposedly imagined in the vein of Martin Scorsese films such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, and takes place during Gotham City in the '80s. Those two films aren't exactly as bright as a rainbow, and any movie starring The Joker should be expected to be messed up. But there's no guarantee this project is definitely happening just yet, so we'll have to keep an eye out for more developments.
Per the original report, the Joker origin movie is supposed to be the first under a new banner of films based on DC properties. The intention is that these projects will have no connection to the DCEU and are meant to be creative reimaginings of familiar characters. Thus, current Joker Jared Leto will not be in the origin film, and a new actor will step in. So far, the Joker movie is the only project under this banner that we've heard of.
There's going to be a lot more news coming out about DC and its upcoming movie plans, so be sure to stick with CinemaBlend and we'll update you as soon as more information becomes available.
