Robert Pattinson’s take on the Caped Crusader in The Batman is going to face a number of villains in his first movie, but surely a new Joker will have to be cast for one of the potential sequels. With an expected trilogy of Batman films from Matt Reeves, surely Warner Bros. will be on the hunt for a new cinematic joker in the coming years. The character’s popularity essentially secures its appearance opposite Pattinson at some point in the future.
After Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance in Joker, folding that prequel into the continuity of The Batman could hypothetically be an option, but director Todd Phillips has already stated that his Joker will not meet Pattinson’s Batman, not to mention a number of other continuity and timeline issues. That means someone new is free to inhabit the role, and considering the youth of Robert Pattinson, it’s possible that the Joker will be played by a younger actor too.
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Following the template set out by Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, the Joker could be teased in the final moments of The Batman to be used properly in a sequel. The Batman is already full of villains, from The Penguin to The Riddler to Catwoman to the Falcone crime family. There’s likely little room for the Joker, but that doesn’t preclude him from appearing in a cameo or in a bigger role in the future. When the Joker finally makes his (or her) debut opposite Robert Pattinson’s Batman, here are some choices for who could be behind the make-up.
Lakeith Stanfield
An actor who has been very vocal about his desire to play the Joker is Lakeith Stanfield. 28-year-old Stanfield’s career has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, initially exploding with a scene-stealing scene as quirky Darius in FX’s Atlanta. Since his breakout role in Donald Glover’s Georgia-set dramedy, Stanfield has gone on to appear as idiosyncratic L in the US version of Death Note; peculiar roles in indie fare like Sorry to Bother You and supporting turns in alternative blockbusters like murder mystery Knives Out and Jordan Peele’s Get Out.
Lakeith Stanfield possesses an impressive range, with line delivery that is always slightly off-kilter and left of what the audience expect. Stanfield flits between ‘mumblecore’ line readings (Atlanta) to emphatic enunciation (Knives Out/Get Out) with such ease that if he were cast as the Joker it’s unclear what kind of direction he would take. Arguably, it’s that kind of unpredictability that is one of the most alluring character traits of the Clown Prince of Crime. Stanfield would also be comfortable with his identity being shrouded like the Joker’s, considering his turn as L in Death Note.
Stanfield appears to be actively campaigning for the role, even going so far as appearing in his own rendition of Joker face paint on the red carpet for Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. Graphic artists have joined in the fun, with ApexForm giving fans a take on what Lakeith Stanfield could look like as the Joker. With multiple counts of visual evidence, and an IMDb page full of eccentric, unusual roles, Lakeith Stanfield has made himself a standout choice for the role of the Joker opposite Pattinson’s Batman.
Caleb Landry Jones
Another memorable turn in Get Out came from Caleb Landry Jones, who portrayed the extremely-unhinged son of the psychotic Armitage family. Landry Jones has built a career off of playing unbalanced characters, and at 30 years old he’d be age-appropriate opposite Robert Pattinson’s Batman. For more evidence of Landry Jones’ ability to play disturbed young men, his performances in The Last Exorcism and God’s Pocket are sufficient. Those films were at the beginning of his career, and Jones has had several years since to improve his acting technique.
Much like Lakeith Stanfield, Caleb Landry Jones has an off-center quality to his demeanor that comes through even when playing quote-unquote normal roles, like Red Welby in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri or Jack in The Florida Project. His role as Banshee in X-Men: First Class benefited from an awkwardness that was fitting for a young mutant uncomfortable in his own skin. Jones has a genuine ability to steal every scene he’s in, which makes him an actor audiences continue to recognize across his filmography; a quick look at his back catalog shows the range of emotion and mania necessary to portray the Joker.
The excitement that surrounds new casting of the Joker stems from wondering what the character will be like, considering there are multiple ways to portray a character so detached from reality. The performance can end up a mobster like Jack Nicholson in Batman, an agent of chaos like Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, or a ‘gangsta’ like Jared Leto in Suicide Squad (which the director claims finds its basis in original Joker comic book appearances). Were Caleb Landry Jones to be cast as Joker opposite Robert Pattinson’s Batman, fans could expect his take on the character to be something fresh, original and never seen before – much like all his roles.
Willem Dafoe
Comic book fans will perhaps best remember Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin in the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man films of the early 2000s. As fans campaign for Maguire to return as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2, other fans are imagining what Willem Dafoe might look like as the Joker. Utilizing his same manic energy that was once used so effectively for Norman Osborn, fan-favorite graphic artist BossLogic has mocked up a design of what Dafoe would look like as the Joker, and the results give fans a Joker they can get behind. Even the screenwriter of the 1989 Batman movie thought Dafoe would be perfect for the Joker, although the role was never offered to him at the time.
Instead of wondering what it would look like if Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker met Robert Pattinson’s Batman, perhaps fans should be wondering what it would look like if Willem Dafoe were reunited with his The Lighthouse co-star instead; this time, as the Joker and The Batman. After the two actors already drove each other to madness in Robert Eggers’ black-and-white psycho-thriller, it’s not a stretch to imagine the two doing the same on the streets of Gotham in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
Walton Goggins
After breaking out opposite Timothy Olyphant’s lawman in Justified, Walton Goggins has developed a decent career as a character actor, appearing in many recognizable roles in film and TV. The most famous of which is perhaps as incumbent Sheriff Chris Mannix in Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 Western, The Hateful Eight. Walton Goggins really cemented his potential to play the Joker, however, in the aforementioned Justified. In the FX show, Raylan Givens (Olyphant) returns to his opiate-addled Kentucky hometown to implement sorely-needed law and order.
There, he comes up against best-frenemy/criminal Boyd Crowder (Goggins), where the two butt heads over six seasons. It’s the dichotomy between the two characters that mimic the rivalry between Batman and the Joker, as Givens represents order and Crowder is a force for chaos. No stranger to comic book movies either, Walton Goggins appeared as antagonist Sonny Burch in Ant-Man & the Wasp, and director Peyton Reed so enjoyed his performance that he has gone on record to say that Walton Goggins could return in the next film in that franchise. Goggins would certainly be a dark horse-choice option, but could be a great compliment as Joker opposite Pattinson’s Batman.
Aubrey Plaza
Fans have had four male Jokers in thirty years, not including animated or comic book versions. It might be time for a female take on the character. One name immediately springs to mind; Aubrey Plaza. One of Aubrey Plaza’s most memorable roles of recent years bears similarities to the Joker, as imaginary figment Lenny in FX’s Legion, the show about Professor X’s mentally-unstable son David Haller (Dan Stevens).
Legion required Aubrey Plaza to play an unstable character of her own, as a crazed voice whispering in David’s ear. The role enabled her to exhibit many of the psychotic qualities that the Joker has. Plaza has built a career off of playing characters who are slightly or massively unhinged, from moody April in Parks & Recreation to stalker Ingrid in Ingrid Goes West. That’s not to say ‘crazy’ is her only strength; see her performance as the put-upon single parent Karen in 2019’s Child’s Play remake, as well as empathetic reporter Darius in Safety Not Guaranteed.
As Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in Joker shows, the character can be conveyed with equal parts mania and sadness, and Aubrey Plaza has proved time and again that she can hit both those notes. The previously-mentioned Ingrid Goes West especially showed a tragic figure consumed by obsession; much like the Joker has a sympathetic origin who becomes obsessed with the Batman. Aubrey Plaza has expressed interest in joining the DCEU before, with her eyes on the role of Catwoman; with that part taken by Zoe Kravitz, Aubrey Plaza as the Joker opposite Robert Pattinson’s The Batman could be the next best option.
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Hoult was famously the other option to play this version of Batman, going as far as screen-testing for the role, but lost out to Robert Pattinson. While the merits of Hoult or Pattinson being more ideal for the role of Batman can be debated, the 30-year-old would be a great pick for the Joker. Whilst Hoult has built a career on inhabiting attractive leading roles, going all the way back to his role as teen heartthrob Tony in Skins, he’s recently been expanding his repertoire to play maniacal or ridiculous characters in supporting turns.
The role as straight-edged Bruce Wayne may be too bland (perhaps even too similar to Hank McCoy in the X-Men franchise), a turn as the Joker would be exciting, new, and in-keeping with his crazed turn as Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road or hilarious role as Harley in The Favourite. After all, what’s better than playing Batman for a young actor, if not playing the Joker? Regardless of whether the DCEU needs the Joker or not, if someone is selected to play the Joker opposite Robert Pattinson’s The Batman will find both a challenging performance to undertake and the next rung on the ladder of their career.
Key Release Dates
- Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)Release date: Oct 02, 2020
- The Suicide Squad (2021)Release date: Aug 06, 2021
- The Batman (2021)Release date: Oct 21, 2021
- Black Adam (2021)Release date: Dec 22, 2021
- DC Super Pets (2022)Release date: May 20, 2022
- The Flash (2022)Release date: Jun 03, 2022
- Shazam 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 04, 2022
- Aquaman 2 (2022)Release date: Dec 16, 2022
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