Everything We Know About The Joker Origin Movie

5. An Origin Story About A Failed Comedian

Batman Man Who Laughs Cover Joker
DC Comics

While we know that the Joker movie is going to be entirely separate from the DCEU, the crux of its plot is still up in the air, but we do know it will be an origin story. Chronicling how The Joker became the Clown Prince of Crime, the character is going to be depicted as a failed stand-up comedian who gets dragged into a life of crime, with inspiration being taken from his backstory in The Killing Joke as well as The Man Who Laughs.

Though the idea of giving The Joker a backstory at all potentially robs the character of some of his mystique, in this case it's actually a rather good decision. Theoretically, this is the only time we'll ever see this version of the character, and the backstory won't inform Jared Leto's version in the DCEU. Crafting an origin for another Joker rather than the Joker allows the filmmakers to explore that rich material, without presenting anything that's totally definitive.

Likewise, the way the movie is being talked about, it seems as though he won't actually become the super-villain until near the end of the film, instead allowing Phoenix to properly dive into how a man becomes a monster.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.