While Avengers: Endgame was the biggest superhero film in 2019 and maybe even ever, Joker might have been the most important one, showing that you can address social issues with one of the comic industry's biggest characters. Despite still being set in Gotham City, this version of the Clown Prince of Crime has nothing to do with the superhero tales we've been reading in our comic books.
That's right, Joker doesn't really owe much of its success to Batman or any of the characters from that universe, which is interesting, to say the least.
Speaking with Deadline, director Todd Phillips said that the Joker's relationship with Batman was only part of the film's success, saying that it's various social issues were what made the movie a hit with fans and critics alike. He definitely has a point since a lot of other movies in the superhero genre can't say they're relatable to the common man.
"I mean, I think there are themes in the movie that really resonated with people. None of us thought an R-rated movie could do over $1 billion across the world. But I think the themes in it really resonated. The thing Scott Silver and I set out to do when we wrote the movie together was to make something meaningful in that comic book space, but also something really that addressed what was going on in 2016, when we started writing. It's pretty obvious what was happening in our country in 2017 while we were writing it, and really wanted to use Joker to make a movie about the loss of compassion and the lack of decorum in the world."
Joker definitely made people realize how much compassion we need in the world right now, even if it did fall on a few "serious movie" tropes. Still, for all the needless violence and weird world framing, there were some fantastic shots and great acting throughout. It's definitely a movie people won't be forgetting, that's for sure.
Fans will be able to own Joker on Blu-ray on January 7.
Read:Newly Discovered Joker Easter Egg Reveals a Doctor Fate Connection
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