Alec Baldwin has been cast as Thomas Wayne, the father of Bruce Wayne and Batman, in Todd Phillips‘ upcoming Joker origin movie with Joaquin Phoenix.
Deadline first reported the casting Monday with filming slated to begin on Sept. 10. Warner Bros. has not confirmed the news yet.
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Thomas Wayne is a wealthy doctor and philanthropist in Gotham City. Married to Martha Wayne, the couple is killed before Bruce’s eyes. Bruce later becomes Batman, dedicating himself to being a vigilante and to clean up Gotham of the “suspicious and cowardly lot” that wreak havoc on the city.
In most comic book storylines, Batman’s parents are murdered by a mugger named Joe Chill. However, Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie introduced the idea of Jack Napier murdering Thomas and Martha Wayne. Jack later becomes The Joker when he falls in a vat of chemicals years later during an encounter with the Batman.
Phillips’ take on Thomas Wayne is expected to divert drastically from the respected man we know. According to The Hollywood Reporter‘s sources, the movie’s Thomas Wayne will be a “cheesy and tanned businessman” similar to 1980s Donald Trump. Considering that Baldwin has been playing Trump on Saturday Night Live, he should be comfortable with the role.
The rest of the cast includes Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2) and Marc Maron (GLOW).
Phillips’ movie is expected to stand apart from the DC Cinematic Universe movies like Justice League, Wonder Woman and Batman v Superman. It will also be produced at a much lower budget and is expected to be a dark character study taking some inspiration from Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke. In that book, the Joke is depicted as a nameless standup comedian who finds himself joining criminals and is eventually changed when he falls into the chemicals and goes insane.
Baldwin won three Emmys for his role as Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock and can now be seen in theaters in Mission: Impossible – Fallout with Tom Cruise. His next film is Motherless Brooklyn, a new crime drama being produced by Warner Bros.
Phoenix will be the first actor playing the Joker since Heath Ledger gave his Oscar-winning performance in The Dark Knight a decade ago. In a recent interview, Phoenix said he did not care about fan expectations.
“I could care less. I don’t really think that much about what people think,” he told Indiewire. “Who cares, who cares? My approach to every movie is the same. What I’m interested in is the filmmaker and the idea of the character.”
Joker is scheduled for release on Oct. 4, 2019.
Photo credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images
