According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. reason for bringing Martin Scorsese on board the Joker Origin movie is part of a larger plan to bring in Leonardo Di Caprio. Martin Scorsese is a legend in the industry. Many of us were excited to hear his name tied to the project.
If this is true, then the Joker origin movie project is an ambitious attempt to create a potential award winning film by Warner Bros. Warner Bros. investment in this type talent shows they are looking to make comic book inspired movies into ones that are seen on a serious artistic level. They aim to channel the same magic they did with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.
While this move to bring in Scorsese and DiCaprio is exciting, not everything is sunny at Warner Bros. The same report claims Jared Leto is less than happy with the idea of having multiple Jokers. Leto reportedly will not reprise his role as the Joker in the origin film. However, he will be in the Suicide Squad sequel and Gotham City Sirens. The new plans to bring in another actor for the Joker origin film threw him off guard.
The question is, who will play the Joker. If the goal is for a Joker origin film that goes as far back as his childhood then DiCaprio wouldn’t fit the mold. Currently, the project is being presented as an 80s mob movie. DiCaprio would be perfect for a mob boss or even a detective within the Gotham City Police Department.
To complicate things, even more, the drive to create standalone films also comes with the condition that they aren’t connected with the current DCEU films. Done right, it could work well, or go horribly wrong if the comics aren’t treated with respect. There is one way I can see this working. If they used these standalone films to explore and take inspiration from DC’s Elseworld comics line. It would make sense to go this route. Other actors could be used, create non-connected films, and at the same time tell unique stories that are much needed.
Currently, comic book based movies are doing well in the movie market. However, it’s only a matter of time before the formula could get stale. I hope that this move by Warner Bros. will continue to raise the quality of comic book inspired movies.