We Know What Joaquin Phoenix's Joker Looks Like and It's Terrifying

Leaked photos from the set tease a grittier Joker.

There's a sense of disarray in the DC movie universe right now. From Henry Cavill's departure as Superman to the oddly exciting-looking Shazam!, there's a lot to keep track of, so if you forgot that there are multiple Jokers out there at the moment, it's understandable. While Jared Leto is slated to return as his tattooed, gold-toothed version of the supervillain from Suicide Squad, there's also another, slightly more interesting sounding project in the works from director Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix.

The stand-alone Joker movie has been rumored for months, and the current buzz is it's not connected to the universe-building DC movies and it'll be more an '80s-set crime drama than a standard comic movie. That's enough to sound promising, since DC's other movies haven't done much to help the sense of superhero fatigue out there. And we got our first look at the new Joker earlier this week when Phillips released a teaser, with Phoenix looking extremely fucking creepy even without makeup.

So it looks like Phoenix's Joker is leaning heavier on the clown motif than past Jokers have. The Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger versions borrowed heavily from the slick, green-haired version in the comics, while Leto's Joker, was well, whatever it was.

Now, even more images of Phoenix in character have leaked.

DC and Warner Bros. have burned us before. But for the moment, between the potential of Phillips, Phoenix's shady substitute teacher look, and the vibe from these pictures, the new Joker movie looks like it's pretty promising and nightmare-inducing.