Batman's Dad Will Be "Like Trump" In The Joker Origin Movie
Alec Baldwin cast as a new Thomas Wayne
Just when you thought Todd Phillips' Joker Origin movie was doing everything right and seemingly by the book (albeit from a strange starting position, what with the whole origin thing), they go and throw an almighty curve-ball.
While the idea of a blend of The Man Who Laughs and The King Of Comedy, with definite Scorsese influences (even if his presence as a producer isn't entirely certain now) is great, it now seems that something strange is afoot. Something strange and Trump-shaped, to be more precise.
According to Deadline, Alec Baldwin has been hired to play Thomas Wayne - father of Bruce - but it won't be the version comic book fans are used to. In a follow-up by THR this take on the character will be a "cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump." What?
There's a possibility that the image of Wayne will actually be distorted by the perception of the Joker himself (or whatever he's going to be known as before his "change) and that he won't actually be like that, which is an interesting concept. But the idea that they'd take a character like that and mess with him so much is bound to upset some comics fans.
Given the nature of the story, the Joker seeing Wayne through such a grotesque filter would make sense, as there's certainly something to the theory that he will see EVERYONE through a broken lens that will lead to him to have his break from reality. Sort of like a Rorschach figure seeing Gotham's population as sewer rats. Him focusing on Wayne as the real trigger would also fit in nicely with his hatred of Batman (and could be used as a launching point for him actually knowing that Bruce Wayne is Batman all along).
It's certainly a bold change, either way.
Anyway, at least they hired Baldwin to do it. His work on Saturday Night Live as Donal Trump was a revelation and it's nice to know we're getting to see more of it.