infinite franchises

Martin Scorsese and Todd Phillips Are Developing a Joker Origin Story Movie

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

The Warner Bros. DC film universe is spinning so fast that parts just keep flying off and then growing into their own autonomous film properties. According to Deadline, the studio is now developing a Joker origin story that is being directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover), produced by Martin Scorsese (yes, that Martin Scorsese), and written by Scott Silver (8 Mile). This, as Deadline reports, “will be the first film under a new banner that has yet to be named in which WB can expand the canon of DC properties and create unique storylines with different actors playing the iconic characters.†(Case in point: Deadline is capitalizing “Batman Universeâ€, because it sounds like the sub-universe business is about to get booming.) For those longing to see what Jared Leto could really do with the Joker when given his own movie to play around with, you will have to continue pining away. While Leto will return for the Harley Quinn spinoff as well as the second Suicide Squad, this new film from Phillips will present a unique origin for the character and cast a different, and perhaps younger, actor. It’s also apparently supposed to harken back to early Scorsese films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull in its tone, and it will be set in an early-1980s Gotham City that will mostly likely be one step above an actual waste-processing plant as far as livability goes.

Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips Are Developing a Joker Movie