For a brief moment at the end of last month, it looked like Todd Phillips had secured Alec Baldwin's services to play a version of Thomas Wayne in his street-level origin story Joker. But Baldwin demurred, citing scheduling issues and announcing that "there are 25 guys who could play that part." Well, now Phillips has rounded up one of them, as Brett Cullen is joining the cast.
Phillips used his Instagram account at the weekend to debut the first image of leading man Joaquin Phoenix looking very much like... well, Joaquin Phoenix if we're honest, with little in the way of Joker styling besides the hint of a green coat. But that's all part of the plan, with this new film unmoored from the DCEU and telling a character study-based tale of a man who is ground down by society and turns into the man we know as the Joker.
In keeping with that, this Thomas Wayne is apparently not the tough yet kindly doctor and rich philanthropist we're used to meeting before he meets his end at the hands of a thug. Instead, he's been described as more of a Trump type.
Cullen, who has already appeared in a Batman-universe film via a small role in The Dark Knight Rises, joins the likes of Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro and Frances Conroy in the film, which has kicked off shooting. Add to that a batch of new arrivals including Shea Whigham, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Douglas Hodge and Josh Pais.
It has a 4 October, 2019 release set for the States, and may well be out day and date over here.
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