10 Terrifying Moments In Comic Book Movies

Long before he took on the mantle of Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix was already known to be a pretty out-there actor. From his brilliant performances in Her to the raw emotion he delivered in You Were Never Really Here, the man has kept up one of the most eclectic filmographies of this generation.

The Joker may have seemed like a step down in some directors' minds, but the movie jumped up a notch once Fleck enters Murray Franklin's TV studio.

After committing to the concept of being the Joker, Arthur fluctuates between jovial and intense as the scene plays out. Though his smile never leaves his face, you can see Phoenix toe the line between excitement and genuine anger with every passing question. As Murray gets more and more unsettled by Arthur's comments, Phoenix brews over with intensity until he finally pulls out a pistol and shoots the talk show host in the middle of his viewing audience.

There have been plenty of deaths in superhero movies, but this is the one shot in recent memory that has felt the most real, as if you were in the front row watching everything go down. Arthur Fleck had been hedging his bets about his future the entire movie, but with just one shot, Arthur was killed forever and the era of Joker had begun.