...according to the new origin movie

He’s the scourge of Gotham City and Batman’s arch-nemesis.

And now the truth is to be revealed about The Joker’s origin: he was a failed 1980s comedian who became a sadistic super-villain after bombing – metaphorically – on stage.

That’s according to TheWrap website, quoting an anonymous insider on Todd Phillips’ planned Joker origin movie from DC Films.

One of the producers on the film is Martin Scorsese, who has covered the psychology of the stand-up before, in 1982’s King Of Comedy with Robert De Niro.

Joaquin Phoenix is reportedly close to signing a deal to play the Joker in the film, expected to go into production late this year. 

The storyline has some similarities to Alan Moore’s 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke – also for DC Comics –  which portrayed  The Joker as a struggling stand-up who turns to crime to feed his family.  Although that was posited as one possible origin story, it has come to be accepted as canon.

In that story, much of the villain’s embittered personality comes when Batman thwarts a crime in a chemical company, with the noxious waste changing his appearance and helping drive him mad.

Published: 9 Mar 2018