Joker Movie Doesn't "Follow Anything From The Comic Books," Todd Phillips Says

In simple words:

"We just butchered another interesting comic book character, but feel free to watch it in the cinema. Thank you!"

Oh so they're doing what they did with the Star Wars Sequels!

So now these directors aren't even going to try and be respectful of the people who made these properties as lucrative as they are? It might be time to find a new hobby.

I love movies. I like movies critics hate and hate movies critics love. But for the most part, I enjoy movies that critics and movie makers understand that it takes a ton of effort and know it takes those that really do the 'work' to turn a story or idea into something what we call a great film. I'll give any movie a chance... up to a point. Taking a great property like the Joker (who has had several decades of stories written _mostly good_ hehind them- and saying ahh... forget that- we have a better take on it. Is like saying LOTR is pretty good, but wait till you hear my version of it ... in Venice, CA. with the battle of upscale consignment shops VS the boardwalk shops near the beach...

Just saying, there is a ton of LORE to base your joker movie off of, and shunning that entire IP may not be such a good idea. I mean there is a reason we are leaving our houses, paying $20 for a popcorn and soda, and enduring other people for a night out - and it is not to see Todd Phillips... but to watch a compelling fictional character that has already a ton of writers define him. We all welcome something new and brave- but know that shitting on something we fans enjoy can have backlash.

This actually reminds me a lot of the Darren Aronofsky pitch for a Batman movie. Previously, when auteur directors were contemplating comic book based movies, they'd essentially do something entirely original, instead of using any comic books as source material.

A lot of this came from an era when there were less mature audience targeted comics, and/or the directors lacked awareness of such comics, and were only familiar with the mainstream pop culture rendition of comic book characters.

As comics and graphic novels became both more adult oriented and more respected in the mainstream, directors began to use the comics as more of a direct inspiration for films. Nolan used a lot of comic imagery in his Batman Begins films, while Rodriguez and Snyder used the comics as literal storyboards for many sequences in films like Sin City and 300.

This isn't to say one approach is right or wrong - a good movie is a good movie, and as others noted the comics themselves constantly reinvent characters and re-tell altered backstories or reinvent characters altogether. If you read about the Aronofsky Batman concept, it will probably remind you a lot of the vibe of the upcoming Joker film.

Didn't the Dark Knight trilogy go way off from the comics? That turned out quite well so maybe there's some hope...

Joaquin Phoenix is an amazing actor & his acting is striking and nerve tingling in the trailers alone, the right man to play the psycho role. In a twist Gotham needs the balance of a jokster to unveil its irony, they deserve better than a greedy thief, and the twist unapologetically perpetuates into the real world with the need of brilliance and control to capture true madness.

At this point, when it comes to DC and hearing stuff like "We Didn't Follow Anything From The Comic Books", i feel like i can speak for everyone when I say : : Heavy sigh : : 'Whatever' .

Oh well, could still be a good movie.

They all stray from the source material. Even the MCU, especially Endgame.

Blade didn't follow the source material (unless you count Spider-Man the Animated series), did fine.

The Dark Knight. Venom (critical failure, commercial success) and Catwoman (which did bomb) all strayed from source material.

It really just depends on the skills of the people putting the movie together.

How dare you change this fictional thing that has had 100 different iterations and variations over the years.

THE AUDACITY!

THE UNMITIGATED GALL!

Well, the Dark Knight didn't really follow a comic story line to my knowledge and it is one of my favorites.

If he's going to have a past, I'd prefer it to be multiple choice! HA HA HA!

@shadowwarrior4 I could definitely see that being the end of the movie to complete his transformation. Plus he was a comedian in the Killing Joke pretty similar to being a Clown/Entertainer.

Also what happened to the reply button?

he says he didnt follow anything from the comics but it still looks like the killing joke if they have him recruited by some crooks to break into ace chemicals then its a sure thing

I have a feeling this movie will suck but Joaquin Phoenix will do a great job and everyone will defend the movie based on his performance

Ahh that’s why it doesn’t feel like a dc movie.

So he practically went to the toilet and while taking a dump he wrote the movie outta of his as?. I was really not convince about this movie and what the heck really was but this guy probably has just made the entire geek community on planet earth angry with this revelation. If this movie bomb at the box office this might be the number one reason for it and second shitty writing and dumb made up story line.

The trailers were a stinker sometimes they are like that but now that I know this I will not gonna go and see this. This is a trend with this movies and is not gonna stop until someone sitting at the helm do something about it and say no. The only thing they care about is getting paid, you give them the money and they give you the rights to make a movie and do whatever the FU?? you want with it.

Lame.

Then why are you making a movie about joker in the first place?!

I’m kind of thinking things like this are borderline disrespectful. If you don’t follow ANY source material, why even say it’s a Joker film? Because the name and brand is guaranteed to give you a leg up in earnings? I’m not completely dismissing the movie, but I could see real fans being mad about this. Almost makes me think of Deadpool from Wolverine Origins

He got made fun of one too many times in Gamespot forums and snapped, hence the zero-tolerance policy.

A guy who got picked on until he snapped is the lamest kind of Joker and instead sounds like a C-grade villain.