10 Movie Spinoffs Much Better Than The Franchise That Spawned Them
2. Joker
Had Suicide Squad not turned out to be such a damp squib, then Jared Leto's Joker would have been the one to get his own solo spinoff. Instead, Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips combined to give audiences the best DC adaptation since the conclusion of the Dark Knight Trilogy, which ironically wasn't even part of their shared universe.
The DCEU has endured plenty of struggles in trying to establish an identity, and Joker's position as an unconnected spinoff featuring some recognizable comic book characters meant that was free from the shackles of studio interference and able to tell whatever kind of story they desired.
Arthur Fleck's unraveling ended up being both a critical and commercial smash hit, an awards season favorite and one of the defining movies of 2019, which isn't a bad return for a project that the studio were initially very hesitant about green-lighting in the first place.