Todd Phillips Shares First Look at Zazie Beetz in Joker
This past Friday we shared the first look at Joaquin Phoenix in clown paint in Todd Phillips upcoming Joker. Needless to say, there is immense interest in Phoenix’s turn as Gotham’s Clown Prince of Chaos, and our first look at him leaves us feeling giddy with excitement. Phoenix looks appropriately unhinged, yet both his face paint and his demeanor look like a fresh approach to the most iconic villain of all time, a departure from Jared Leto’s green-haired punk super criminal and Heath Ledger’s legendary turn as a demented, deeply damaged yet oddly truthful psychopath. Now Phillips has shared our first look at Zazie Beetz (we think her character’s name is Sophie Dumond), who we’ve heard is a single mother living in Gotham who struggling comedian and future supervillain Arthur Fleck becomes interested in.
Beetz, who was sensational in Deadpool 2 and continues to be fantastic in Donald Glover’s Atlanta, is seen here in a similarly realistic, non-fussy shot, similar to the first image of Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/the Joker—she looks like a real person (in a chunky sweater, no less) who appears to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. Phoenix also looked world-weary in his first image, which speaks to Phillips’ ambition to make Joker a character study more in the vein of Marty Scorsese’s The King of Comedy than your typical big-budget superhero smash-up. Plus, Joker will be giving us the first origin story for Gotham’s greatest villain, and with the smaller budget and seriously talented cast, we should expect more grit and less flash. Beetz’s photo speaks to this more realistic approach, and with Scorsese himself on board as a producer, and the legendarily picky Phoenix putting on the clown paint for his first superhero role, all signs point towards a much different kind of Gotham-set film than we’ve seen in the past. Also, Robert De Niro, star of not only The King of Comedy, but another of Joker‘s cinematic touchstones, Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, is in the cast. This movie is likely going to be bonkers.
Joker is set to hit theaters on October 4, 2019. Joining Phoenix, Beetz and De Niro are Marc Maron, Shea Whigham, Glenn Flesher and Bill Camp.
Featured image: NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 08: Zazie Beetz attends FX’s ‘Atlanta Robbin’ Season’ FYC Event at Saban Media Center on June 8, 2018 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images)
