Director Todd Phillips has revealed that the new Joker film is not based on comic books and is an original take on the DC supervillain’s story.
“We didn’t follow anything from the comic books, which people are gonna be mad about. We just wrote our own version of where a guy like Joker might come from. That’s what was interesting to me. We’re not even doing Joker, but the story of becoming Joker. It’s about this man,” said Philips, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver.
It was earlier speculated that the film will be based on Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s legendary comic The Killing Joke, which provided the origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime.
The comic told of an aspiring comedian whose dealings with the mob go south after which he is dropped into a vat of chemicals by Batman.
The director also hailed Joaquin Phoenix as “the greatest actor. We had a photo of him above our computer while we were writing. We constantly thought, ‘God, imagine if Joaquin actually does this’.”
The R-rated Joker is slated to be released on October 4.