Joaquin Phoenix gives a dark new origin to Batman’s greatest foe in first Joker trailer
But did you spot mini Bruce Wayne?
![Screen Shot 2019-04-03 at 14.36.21](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2019/04/Screen-Shot-2019-04-03-at-14.36.21-682fb5b.png?quality=90&resize=980,654)
After plenty of teases, the first trailer has arrived for Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s new take on classic comic-book baddie The Joker – and frankly, the whole thing is pretty bleak.
Described as a “cautionary tale” and a “gritty character study,” the new film’s footage shows Phoenix’s beaten-down Arthur Fleck gradually crack under the strain of this miserable life, where he’s constantly belittled, bullied and struggles to care for his mother in a new version of the Joker's origin story (though with similarities to Alan Moore's classic The Killing Joke).
- First look at Joaquin Phoenix's fantastically creepy Joker
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Of course, one day Arthur snaps, becoming a version of the clown-themed Batman villain we all know – and while there’s no sign of the Caped Crusader in any of the footage (he’s not expected to appear, though Dante Pereira-Olson is said to be playing his childhood self), the trailer does include one or two tie-ins to the wider DC universe.
Arkham State Hospital, for example, is an obvious reference to the Batman comics’ Arkham Asylum – the facility where most of Bruce Wayne’s rogues’ gallery end up – while fans will be sure to note the irony of Thomas Wayne (played by Brett Cullen) decrying the violence of someone “hiding behind a mask” given what his son will get up to in later years.
And then there’s the scene where the Joker appears to be forcing a smile onto the face of a young boy, none other than Bruce Wayne/Batman himself (Pereira-Olson), marking a notable first meeting for the future arch-foes.
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Clearly, this will be a film ripe with meaning for Batfans everywhere...
Joker is released in October