A quick flash of Arthur in the back of a squad car after it collides with an ambulance. Around them, Gotham is on fire. Riots are tearing the city apart. Witness the sounds and images of a demon birthed upon the DC Comics universe.
Ladies and germs, I present to you a man transformed. Somehow The Joker received an invitation onto the Murray Franklin Show, and it probably went down fairly similarly to how Robert De Niro’s Rupert Pupkin made it onto Jerry Lewis’ late night affair in The King of Comedy. Force and intimidation, and maybe a little murder too.
Our first look at Marc Maron as Ted Marco, Franklin’s right-hand man. From his dressing room, they listen to a request from their guest. They don’t seem thrilled to have this whackjob on their program.
“Murray, one small thing,” says the Joker. “When you bring me out, can you introduce me as Joker?” Branding is important.
Uh … the two men look at each other. This f’ing guy.
The trailer hits its crescendo with a splash of images. Love this shot of Arthur from sometime earlier when he was desperately trying to bring hope to the hopeless inhabitants of the children’s ward. There is nothing more depressing and sad in this trailer than the nurse propping up one patient’s head so he can experience Arthur’s parade.
The clown-faces tear past a movie theater, and if you look quickly, you’ll spot a one-sheet for Excalibur. Huh. Why is this significant? Well, some might remember that the John Boorman film was the one Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne took their son Bruce to see in Zach Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Could we possibly see those two poor parents murdered again? Is Joker just another Batman origin story in disguise?
All hail the new king in town. Batman schmatman. The trailer concludes in the same manner as the last one: Murray Franklin unveiling The Joker to Gotham City. Are there enough broken people out there to accept his new world order? With two minutes and 22 seconds, I find myself suddenly aligned with the bent worldview of the man previously known as Arthur Fleck. In a mad world, only the mad make sense.
Warner Bros. and Todd Phillips send in the clowns on October 4th.
Related Topics: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker, Shot by Shot, Todd Phillips, Trailers
