The Joker will be a hard-boiled crime drama that is also a gritty character study and a broader cautionary tale. Todd Phillips‘ film will be part of an all new banner of DC films that expand the DC universe with new and unique storylines that aren’t a part of the current DC Extended Universe. Joaquin Phoenix will play the title character. The film, which is said to be influenced by The Killing Joke, is currently in production

However, it is making some big news as seven more people have been cast. What’s even more interesting is that these latest castings confirm that a young Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth will be appearing in the film. More on the report, below.

Comicbook.com says Dante Pereira-Olson and Douglas Hodge have been cast in The Joker as a young Bruce Wayne and middle-aged Alfred Pennyworth, respectively.

Now this is interesting because not only will the film acknowledge these characters existence, they will be playing younger versions of the characters. When Bruce first met the Joker, they were probably around the same age, with Alfred being much older. However, it appears that Bruce will be a kid in the film. So by the time Bruce does become Batman, the Joker will probably too old to fight him.

This also means that the film probably won’t mirror The Killing Joke origins story entirely. For one thing, in that story arc, the chemist who helped criminals break into the chemical plant became Joker after Batman’s interference causes him to leap into a chemical vat, which disfigures him. So it’s highly unlikely that a pre-teen kid would do that. But how does Alfred’s involvement factor into this? Unless that is some strange nod to the comics. Another thing to remember is that Brett Cullen will play Thomas Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s father.

Of course, this is a very nontraditional comic book film any way you look at it. But comic book films are known to deviate from the source material. So one could argue that the new castings could be the case for that. Still, that doesn’t make this film any less strange. But it sure as hell makes everything more intriguing.

The film also stars Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, Francis Conroy, and Marc Maron.

The Joker opens in theaters on October 4, 2019.

[Source: ComicBook.com]