“What would Joaquin Phoenix look like as the Batman villain, the Joker?” That’s a question DC Comics fans would have been desperate to have the answer to ever since Phoenix was cast to star as the lead in a stand-alone Joker film.
Over the past 48 hours, since production officially began, not only have we been graced with a first look at Phoenix in his lead role but we’ve also been given details of the full cast of the film.
The film’s director, Todd Phillips, took to Instagram yesterday, to share with us a photo of Phoenix as the Crown Prince of Crime, sans makeup, making it appear that the photo was to share what the Joker looked like prior to his life of crime. Today, it has been revealed that the character’s real name is Arthur Fleck.
In addition to Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role, the official cast has been confirmed to include Robert De Niro, Brett Cullen as Batman’s father Thomas Wayne (previously rumored to be played by Alec Baldwin), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Bill Camp (Red Sparrow, Molly’s Game), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story, Castle Rock), Brett Cullen (42, Narcos), Glenn Fleshler (Billions, Barry), Douglas Hodge (Red Sparrow, Penny Dreadful), Marc Maron (Maron, GLOW), Josh Pais (Motherless Brooklyn, Going in Style), and Shea Whigham (First Man, Kong: Skull Island).
Joker is slated to release on October 4, 2019.