First Look: Joaquin Phoenix in Full Joker Makeup

Warner Bros tweeted out our first look at Joaquin Phoenix in full Joker makeup for the upcoming film.

In the short video, we see Phoenix’s character, Arthur, standing emotionless and still as lights flicker over his face while Laughing by The Guess Who plays. Growing in frequency, the lights turn into a faint projected image of Arthur in Joker makeup before completely replacing him with our first full look at director Todd Phillip’s version of the iconic Batman villain.

Though the tease is incredibly short, if you look closely enough, it appears that Phoenix will be rocking the standard purple jacket with an orange and blue shirt underneath. The makeup itself appears to be based off of a much more traditional clown style than we have previously seen for the Joker. It definitely feels very reminiscent of the mask Heath Ledger wears in the opening moments of The Dark Knight.

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It is also interesting to note that Phoenix’s hair length and style is almost identical to what we saw in Ledger’s Oscar winning take on the character. This could just be coincidence, but if not, and with a separate Joker standalone movie planned with Jared Leto, could this be an origin story focused around the Joker we see in The Dark Knight trilogy? This is pure speculation, but would make for an absolutely interesting tale and would give fans more of that fantastic interpretation.

This reveal comes shortly after multiple set videos were released from the Joker origin film as well as an official image of Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur. Under the direction of Todd Phillips (The Hangover franchise), the new film centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of a man disregarded by society is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.

Joker is set to release in October of 2019.