Todd Phillips Wants to See What Batman Would Be Like in the Gotham of His Joker Film

JB Augustine |

Jan 6, 2020

Joker was supposed to have very little to do with Bruce Wayne and Batman other than a negated plot device, but Todd Phillips threw in a retelling of the Wayne family slaying for good measure anyway.

That has the director wondering what the Bat might be like in the Gotham City he laid out on screen. Phillips told Variety a Batman in his world is something he’d like to see explored.

Calling his gritty New York-filmed Gotham “beautiful,” ironically, he said:

“It’s a beautiful Gotham. What I would like to see someone tackle is what Batman looks like from that Gotham.”

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Unfortunately, Phillips isn’t hinting he, in any way, would make a Batman movie set in the same world as Joker. Like Damon Lindelof when it comes to the second season of Watchmen, he is steadfast someone else should do it.

All Phillips intended was begging the question the kind of Batman Joker’s city and its society would create:

“I’m not saying I’m going to do that. What was interesting to me about the inclusion of Batman in our movie was, ‘What kind of Batman does that Gotham make?’ That’s all I meant by that.”

Phillips denied having any meeting with studio executives about a sequel, but one could answer that question. Regardless, whatever he meant, his idea has to wait.

Joker

Warner Bros. is focused on The Batman, co-written and directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson. Set in its own continuity, it will be the film that reboots the Dark Knight once again. If all goes well, Pattinson is our Caped Crusader for much of the near future.

In light of The Batman, other DC franchises will stand autonomously, doing “their thing” as Jason Momoa put it regarding Aquaman 2 and bringing the Justice League band back together for a future team-up.

WB made it clear they are veering away from an interconnected DC Extended Universe though they haven’t quite put all the Zack Snyder continuity to rest yet.

Wonder Woman 1984 takes place in continuity established during the Snyder era and the Snyder Cut of Justice League may get finished and released.

Joker was nominated for multiple Golden Globes and won Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and Best Original Score (Hildur Guðnadóttir) on Sunday night. It’s Blu-ray release is Tuesday.

Do you want more Batman, this time in the “Jokerverse”? Leave a comment.