DC is taking a huge risk with the upcoming Joker movie and it would seem that they’re willing to walk that razor’s edge if only to prove that this concept might be something that could open more doors than it might close. But as Ryan Scott from MovieWeb seems to think it could very well alienate a lot of fans that have seen the classic representations of the Joker and are bound to have their say when it comes to messing around with one of their favorite villains. The movie apparently takes nothing from the comics and will follow its own path, despite the fact that there are elements within the movie that seem inescapably rooted in the DC universe. One thing that is working for the movie thus far is that it does have Joaquin Phoenix as the lead actor, and it does seem to be relying on the fickle nature of the fans that will vilify something if they don’t like it and will at least try to understand it so long as there’s something worth noting.
Zack Sharf from IndieWire does expect the backlash and he’s not the only one it would seem. This Joker is going to be far removed from the one that we’ve been clinging to for so long, and it’s bound to rub someone the wrong way. It doesn’t seem to matter that Phoenix is such a great actor, since he is and there’s no doubt that he’ll give another worthy performance. If people don’t like it then the movie is going to be seen as one of the worst mistakes to ever come out of the DC image, but if they do, then it’s going to be seen as something that’s absolute genius and doesn’t need to be connected to the DCEU to be considered great. That’s a pretty big gamble to play really, especially with the long odds that seem to be set in place.
As an origin story this seems like something that might be capable of giving a bit of insight to a character that we’ve all been able to obsess over for several decades, but still, not following anything we’ve known about this character, which is surprisingly little when it comes to his true back story, could be a very deciding factor in how it performs. A lot of people are at this point willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt and think that perhaps it will wow us simply because it’s not going to deliver what we expect, but many are still pensive since change is a hard thing to stomach, especially when it comes in the form of changing something that we’ve known for so long as a universal truth. If that confuses anyone in anyway I’ll make it clearer. The Joker has been a mysterious but psychotic villain for a long, long time now, and one of Batman’s absolute deadliest enemies to boot. Changing him in any way seems to invite the wrath of the fans in a big way since taking away anything from his character is a risk that many directors couldn’t hope to walk away from unscathed. But here we are with a movie coming out in October that will be visiting the origin of a character that, to many people, is meant to be mysterious and somehow unknown since the idea of being the Joker isn’t really bound to a single character.
The Joker has been given an origin in the comics and in the movies, and even on TV, but each and every time it seems to be a new character, a different personality, wrapped up in the same madness. He’s more of an idea than an actual person since his madness is something that seems to be infectious in way that is hard to guard against. But the headman, the one Joker that finally steps up and takes control of the madness that he creates and perpetuates, is the head psycho that tends to take control, and quite typically his origin is meant to be a lie. In this movie that’s not the case, and it’s why a lot of people might not be happy about it in the least. When the comics introduce a character and keep moving forward without establishing a firm and set in concrete back story it can one way or another. The people can embrace that character or they can simply forget them, but with the Joker people embraced the character since despite the fact that he had no powers and no chance of standing his ground with Batman, he’s still one of the dark knight’s most versatile enemies. Taking anything away from that seems like it might be a huge risk. But we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out to really know just what people think.
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