Last Saturday’s DC FanDome event gave us many things.
It gave us a new trailer for Wonder Woman 1984, which has already won the Academy Award for the most attractive ensemble cast of all time (Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal and Gal Gadot).
We also got big “fresh out of jail” energy from James Gunn, as he revealed the cast for his reboot of The Suicide Squad (Or is it a pre-boot? Apparently the movie might take place in the 1970s).
But the big event of DC FanDome happened 7 hours after it started, in the grand finale. Matt Reeves delivered a 200-words-per-minute rapid fire TedTalk about his new Twilight sequel, titled The Batman.
That’s a good girl
Dressed like Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2, Matt Reeves (left) dropped some juicy nuggets on what his vision for The Batman really is. Here’s some stuff that stuck out to me:
Despite the visual similarities to Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, this movie might as well be called Matt Reeves’ Batman: Year Two. Pattinson’s Batman is already established, but he’s still pretty new to the gig. The cops appear to be somewhat friendly with Batman, but Gordon isn’t even Commissioner yet.
If anything, this movie might be an origin story for the villains rather than the hero. Colin Farrell’s version of The Penguin prefers to go by “Oz,” short for Oswald Cobblepot. "Oz is not yet the kingpin that he's going to become," said Reeves. "The Penguin, in fact, doesn't like being called the Penguin.”
All of the main actors had input on the design of their costumes, and it’s insinuated that everyone’s armor/outfit is in its “beta” stage, with a homemade feel. This explains why Batman wears motorcycle boots, Selina Kyle wears a ski mask that conveniently forms the shape of cat ears, and The Riddler’s cargo jacket has subtle shades of his signature green color.
The fact that the main takeaway from the trailer is the villains shouldn’t be too surprising. Robert Pattinson’s dark, “emo” iteration of Batman doesn’t appear to be wildly different than the version that Christian Bale portrayed in 2005’s Batman Begins. This dark version of Batman just works. And if you’ve seen any of Pattinson’s work in the past 5-years, you already know that he’s going to put up an effortless 35/12/10 triple-double. He’s up for it.
But the reason we’re all talking about the unrecognizable Colin Farrell, the mysterious and creepy Paul Dano, and the beautiful Zoe Kravitz is the same reason why the last two actors who played The Joker won the Academy Awards for their performance (Jared Leto never happened):
Batman has the best rogues gallery in the entire comic book universe.
Dummy thick
My girlfriend, who knows nothing about Batman or comic books in general, has a general idea of who The Penguin, The Riddler and Catwoman are. Somehow, these characters are just a part of the zeitgeist, and always have been.
I’ve seen every Marvel movie, and the only villains who truly stick out in my memory are Thanos (because he’s dummy thick) and Loki (because he has a personality).
That being said, we all know where these movies are heading. Christopher Nolan couldn’t help but tease the audience with it in the final seconds of his Batman origin story.
Much like dummy thick Thanos, The Joker is… inevitable.
My job? As a person who writes a newsletter for two of his friends? I’m here to cast the role of The Joker in Matt Reeves’s Batman cine-verse, using nothing but the visual cues of The Batman’s teaser trailer, and my impeccable taste.
So, here are my top five choices for The Joker. Let us begin.
Honorable mention
Let’s go ahead and cross one guy off the list: Joaquin Phoenix.
Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck from 2019’s Joker simply can’t exist in Matt Reeves’ Batman. For one thing, Reeves already confirmed that his Batman movie takes place in a separate universe from Todd Phillips’ Joker.
And secondly, Joker took place in the late 1970s/early 80s, with Phoenix playing an age-accurate 45 year-old version of the character. From what we can tell, The Batman takes place in modern day. So, lets say Joker happened in 1980. 40 years later, Phoenix’s Joker would be… 85 years old!
Honestly, I wouldn’t be opposed to a super old, saggy nuts Joker (David Bowie would have been perfect as Old Joker, reminiscent of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns rendition). But it’s just not happening. Not yet.
Joker Candidate #1: Lakeith Stanfield
Lakeith Stanfield has been petitioning to play The Joker for a while now. He showed up to the premiere of Todd Phillips’ Joker (which he wasn’t even in) dressed as the title character:
And after this appearance, Stanfield talked publicly on Jimmy Kimmel’s show about how he will “play the character eventually, whether a studio chooses to hire him or not,” along with an ominous Joker-y statement, “wait ‘til they see me do it.” (Jack Nicholson’s Joker famously says “Wait ‘til they get a load of me” in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman)
This all reminds me of when rumors started trickling out about Robert Pattinson’s desire to play Batman. Non-arthouse movie fans still saw Pattinson as the sparkling heartthrob vampire from Twilight (nothing wrong with that, but, Good Time and The Lighthouse were kind of a big deal, just saying). You don’t hear many people complaining about Pattinson now, especially after seeing him ooze Bond-level British swagger in every trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. But still, at the time, Pattinson’s casting was a surprise.
There’s also the elephant in the room. There are a lot of racists in the world. And racists would inevitably cause a huge hissy-fit about Stanfield playing The Joker, because The Joker is traditionally considered a “white actor” role (even though the first on-screen appearance of The Joker was the Cuban/Spanish/Mustache actor Cesar Romero). This would be an especially stupid take, but one that we would inevitably have to deal with.
I worry what this type of backlash would do to Stanfield’s psyche. We’ve already seen him post some disturbing social media content during this current pandemic. He might not be the most mentally stable actor in Hollywood. And whether you believe Heath Ledger’s obsession with the role had something to do with the accidental overdose leading to his death, it’s hard to disagree that we’ve already seen 3 iterations of actors maybe taking The Joker role a little too seriously.
But could this backlash stir up the perfect amount of fuel to the fire that is necessary for The Joker to be good? Heath Ledger’s casting was met with huge amounts of doubt, mostly due to the (unnecessary, wrong) controversy of Brokeback Mountain, and we all know how good Ledger turned out to be.
But Stanfield playing The Joker would be so wildly different from any iteration we’ve ever seen. We would all be drooling for the first glimpse of him in Joker makeup.
And I haven’t even gotten to how good of an actor Stanfield is. This guy is an absolute chameleon, balancing a mix of menacing, mysterious, funny, sad, and everything in between. I’ve never seen this guy act the same way in any movie, it’s always something new.
I truly believe Stanfield is one of the most exciting actors that we have right now, and much like Ledger in 2006, a role like The Joker could elevate him to new heights as an actor- heights that most of us believe he’s capable of hitting.
But please, I beg of you: don’t give him long, thick dreadlocks like this version in 2004’s The Batman animated series:
And Stanfield’s body type? He’s not as tall as he seems (6-feet, about the same height as Pattinson), but his arms and legs look really skinny and lanky. If Heath Ledger’s Joker was an evolution of Sid Vicious, I imagine Stanfield’s Joker as an evolution of Death Grip’s MC Ride. (Crossover: Robert Pattinson is credited with playing guitar on Death Grips’ song “Birds”)
In conclusion, sign me up for Lakeith. I think he fits everything Matt Reeves is going for: menacing, creepy, and something unlike anything we’ve ever seen from this version of the character. Pay the man!
Joker Candidate #2: Caleb Landry Jones
I know what you’re thinking: wasn’t he a quarterback at OU?
No, you’re thinking of Landry Jones.
This is Caleb Landry Jones:
I’ll try to keep this short: Caleb Landry Jones is a 30 year-old actor known for stand-out performances as the brother in Get Out, Banshee in X-Men: First Class, and a racist fellow in Three Billboards.
He’s slightly younger and shorter than Pattinson, and honestly, kind of looks like he could be Pattinson’s little brother.
But the thing I really like about this guy? He’s got a creepy face. His lips look perma-chapped. His skin is naturally pasty-white. And he’s always got this look in his eye that he could snap at any moment.
I think if you’re choosing Jones, you’re banking on pure potential. He’s not a household name by any means, and this would certainly be the role that gets him recognized. He’s been good in everything he’s been in, but he still has yet to deliver anything great.
In short, I think it’s too soon for this guy! If the actor playing Batman was in his mid-twenties, like a really young version of Batman, then Jones might work. But I just don’t think he’s there yet.
Joker Candidate #3: Willem Dafoe
I mean, this has been the home-run pick ever since Dafoe gave his Joker-y version of the Green Goblin for Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man.
It’s so perfect that it almost seems… too predictable?
Dafoe is easily the oldest choice for The Joker on this list (he just turned 65 in July, strong Cancer-Leo cusp energy!). He definitely looks the most like the traditional comic book Joker. He doesn’t have the height or the lankiness that you want, but that smile though!
And- he has noticeable chemistry with Pattinson already. In 2019’s The Lighthouse, the entire movie is centered around Dafoe’s fisherman character bonding with Pattinson on a remote island. They both go completely insane, with Dafoe even turning into a mermaid-man at one point (oops, I just remembered Dafoe was in Aquaman). But you can’t deny the bromance as they drunk and dance together by candlelight.
I also think Dafoe’s age would add an interesting dynamic to The Batman cast. Pattinson plays a youngish Batman, Zoe Kravitz is a youngish Catwoman, and Paul Dano plays a youngish Riddler. Colin Farrell (44 years-old) is the old man of the bunch. It might be cool if Dafoe’s age brings an heir of superiority over Reeves’ Batman rogues gallery. The Joker is supposed to wear the supervillain crown, not only in Batman’s universe, but for all comic book villains.
But, if we’re supposed to believe that The Joker is “becoming” The Joker in real-time during the events of The Batman, then maybe it doesn’t make sense for him to be 65 years-old already. If The Joker is 65, I would hope that he’s already a notorious supervillain who has escaped from Arkham Asylum at least ten times already. By age 65, The Joker needs to be fully inside Batman’s head, with a long history between the two characters. I think we’re looking for a Joker who can grow with Pattinson’s Batman.
In short, I’d rather not have The Joker be twice Batman’s age. Sorry, Willem. You would’ve been really good! But it’s too late for you, my guy.
Joker Candidate #4: Tilda Swinton
Oh, you thought Lakeith Stanfield as The Joker would send shockwaves?
Tilda Swinton would absolutely melt people’s minds.
Remember how I mentioned that David Bowie would’ve been the perfect Old Man Joker? Swinton is essentially the second-coming of Bowie, but in lady-form.
The thing about Swinton is: her appearance is nearly gender-less. I mean, she already played a man in 2018’s Suspiria (above). She (questionably) played a magical sensei in Doctor Strange. Her look is so neutral that you can basically mold her into any shape and size that you want to.
So, would Swinton play a male Joker? Or a female Joker? Honestly, I don’t think it matters. A genderless Joker, in theory, is actually the most interesting outcome that I can think of. The Joker certainly isn’t opposed to expressing his feminine side at times.
And on the flip-side, maybe sometimes she comes across as hyper-sexualized and masculine. She could be the type of Joker that literally changes from scene to scene, with no grasp on the insanity that goes on inside of the character’s head.
And her physique? She’s 5’11”, which is tall for a girl, but still shorter than Pattinson. She’s not necessarily lanky, but not big either.
She is 59 years-old, which might be a deal-breaker. But unlike Willem Dafoe, she really doesn’t look very old. I think with make-up you could easily make her look late 30s/early 40s.
I imagine her as The Dark Knight Returns Bowie-influenced Joker: white suit, green hair slicked back. Really menacing, but suave and charismatic. Maybe just let her be British.
I’m actually really, really on-board with this choice.
Joker Candidate #5: Christian Bale
OK hear me out on this theory:
Every actor who has ever played Batman would play a great Joker.
Let’s go in descending order:
Robert Pattinson: The smile, the charm, the coldness.
Ben Affleck: Ah, never mind. We’re skipping him.
Christian Bale: Have you seen American Psycho?
George Clooney: I forgot about him too. Skip this one.
Val Kilmer: Ok my theory isn’t very good.
Michael Keaton: Those eyebrows!!! You wanna get nuts??? Come on! Let’s get nuts!
Adam West: Ok, so only 3 out of 7 Batman actors would have been a good Joker. I stand corrected.
But anyway, let’s go back to Christian Bale:
His performance as Patrick Bateman in 2001’s American Psycho is basically an audition tape for The Joker.
Not only does he have the right look for Joker (that hairline, that nose, and that nose-mole), but he also has the chops. Bale is still an insanely good actor. And he’s always down to do something different and unexpected. He fluctuates the boundaries of his stardom as often as he fluctuates his body weight. This seems like the totally bonkers move someone like Christian Bale would do.
Would he fit in Reeves’ Batman, though?
Bale certainly falls into the same wheelhouse as some of the actors that Reeves has used in the past (and some who will appear in The Batman): Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Peter Saarsgard, John Turturro and Gary Oldman.
But going back to what I said about Stanfield’s mental health: I’m worried that Bale might go a little too far with the role. But maybe that’s what would make it so special?
I don’t know. It would never happen, not in a million years. But I think Bale would absolutely smash it.
Editor’s note: Christian Bale is currently signed on to play the villain in the new Thor movie. But wouldn’t playing the villain in 2 superhero movies at the same time be a total Bale move? … Probably not, actually. Yea, this is a cross-off. He would still be good, though.
Still with me?
To wrap this up, here are my choices to play The Joker in Matt Reeves’ Batman cine-verse:
The One That Would Never Happen: Christian Bale
The One That’s a Little Too Old: Willem Dafoe
The One That’s a Little Too Young: Caleb Landry Jones
The One That Would Break the Internet: Lakeith Stanfield
The One That Makes Me Think I’m an Absolute Genius: Tilda Swinton
Which of these choices do you like best? Who did I leave out? Am I brilliant? Or just insanely smart? And handsome?
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Moondog