If you were like me, you were probably wondering how the Martin Scorsese produced, Todd Phillips directed The Joker would differentiate itself from the ninety other Joker films Warners currently has in development. Well, we have something that might give us a little hint.
That Hashtag Show has casting blurbs for eight major characters in the film. And the characters listed hint that we are getting a movie that skews older than you might have anticipated a Joker origin story would have.
The casting blurbs are:
- Penny: Supporting Female (60-74) Caucasian. Lower class, very attractive in her younger days, still feels that way about herself. But recently her health has started failing, and she’s nearly bedridden in her Lower East Side apartment which she shares with her grown son who just moved back home. She’s obsessed with her former employer and can’t believe that this is what her life has come to, that she has ended up here, like this…
- Sophie Dumond: Supporting female (27-34) to play African American or to play Latina. Not beautiful, has a hardness to her, a single mother living on the Lower East Side, doing the best she can, trying to make ends meet; worn out by the grind of the city. She understands how the system is stacked against her and the people in her community, how unjust it all is for them. She’s just trying to catch a break..
- Murray Franklin: Male (65-75) Caucasian
- Randall: Supporting Male (40-59)Caucasian. Thinks he’s the wisest and most knowledgeable person in any room he’s in, tries to present himself as a mentor to everybody, but is really just looking out for himself, burly.
- Gary: Supporting Male (30-49) any ethnicity to play a dwarf; Randall’s best friend, he’s good-natured and a buddy to his colleagues at work, one of the only decent people in the whole movie.
- Hoyt Vaughn: Supporting Male (50-69) any ethnicity the old-school manager of hotel staff. He’s seen it all, and finds it difficult to give a shit about much of anything anymore.
- Detective Garrity: Supporting Male (50-59) any ethnicity. Police Detective in a city on the brink; a by-the-book cop, worn down by all his years on the force. He doesn’t care about or take into consideration any of the societal or political ramifications of his cases.
- Detective Burke: Supporting Male (30-39) any ethnicity. A Police Detective and Garrity’s partner; he’s an asshole, who gets off by being in a position of authority. Being a cop is how he defines himself.
Comic book fans will note the lack of any characters that have appeared in the comics. This might indicate that the film will not only be in a separate continuity for the DC Extended Universe, but also have little connection to Batman mythos. If that is the case, why does it have to be a Joker film at all? You can do a film about the rise of a criminal with just about any character.
Also, that cast skews a bit old as well, Granted, we have 43-year-old Joaquin Phoenix playing the Joker, so it was going to be an older film from the get go, but with an average top end for the cast as 50, this doesn’t seem to be catering to the 18-35 demographic.
The article also goes on to give a little more details about the film and how the characters play into it. Such as:
- The reason why Murray Franklin only has one word for a description is because Phillips already knows who he wants to play him–frequent Scorsese collaborator Robert DeNiro.
- Set are being built for a hotel, a bank, a mental hospital, and morning talk show.
- Penny is believed to be the Joker’s mother, and the theory is that her death will send her son down the path to madness. They are also looking for a younger actress to play an earlier version of Penny.
- Sophie Dumond will also have a 4-year-old daughter and is believed to be the Joker’s partner, either romantic, criminal or both. Figures that the potential romantic interest would have the youngest age range in the casting call.
I don’t know yet if this news makes me more interested or less interested in film. But it does make me want to find out more about it, which is a good thing.
