If Nicolas Cage was about thirty years younger he might have made a great Joker. But his insistence that he would play the iconic villain so perfectly is kind of unfounded at this point since while he can go a bit nuts as he’s shown in his films, he’s getting to be just a bit too old. This next film showing the Joker’s origin will need a younger actor, and right now it seems that Joaquin Phoenix is being looked at for the role. There’s no doubt that Cage could possibly fill the crazy quotient of the Joker, but really he’s just getting up in years and isn’t quite the youthful nut that he used to be. His acting credentials are never in question since he’s created some of the most entertaining roles in his films, but right now the movie is calling for someone that might be just starting out or at least has enough youth left in them to appear as a character before they go bad.
That makes it hard to imagine why Joaquin Phoenix would be picked though since he’s no spring chicken himself. He does have a younger look than Cage but he’s still not a young man any longer. But both of them have shown that they can go psychotic rather easily in their many films and have proven that they have the right stuff to step into the shoes of a villain like the Joker. Right now they’re both miles ahead of Tommy Wiseau, who’s still trying to push for consideration of his part in the movie. Right now it’s hard to know if Wiseau is joking or if he’s genuinely trying to get a part, but really it’s enough to hope that the director the Joker movie picks someone that actually has some solid acting credentials.
The origin story of the Joker however almost seems like a cruel joke in and of itself since the myths and legends surrounding the character have been fed into so much throughout the years that revealing just where he came from and how he came to be who he is would seem like pulling the curtain back and revealing that he’s just a washed up comedian that went crazy. That doesn’t leave a lot to the character any longer and could possibly destroy him. There have been other origin stories created for the Joker in the comics and in the movies, but the best so far is that in the Dark Knight, as there is no origin story for Heath Ledger’s Joker. That was the best representation yet, showing that he had no affiliations, no ID, no way of telling just who he was, and no idea of what he was going to do next. Why ruin that?
Sigh. The answer is pretty simple in one regard. People want to know that the demons and devils created onscreen and in the books have a point of reference where they can see how everything went off the rails and what made this person into who they are. It feels safer that way, like less of an unknown and therefore less of a risk that they’ll continue to wonder about. Once the Joker has a well-defined origin he’ll cease to be as scary or as maniacal.
Sorry Cage, but it seems like you’ll have to sit out another chance at comic book glory.
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