Joker director Todd Phillips explains why Joaquin Phoenix's character won't appear in DC Universe films

Movie releasing on 4 October

Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker won’t appear in other DC Universe movies, according to director Todd Phillips.

The filmmaker clarified Joker‘s relation to the rest of the DC Universe during a recent Q&A at the Toronto International Film Festival.

As far as superhero films are concerned, it wouldn’t be unexpected for a character introduced in a dedicated movie to appear in other films in the franchise.

That is, of course, how Marvel built and managed its entire Avengers franchise, developing specific characters by giving them plenty of screen time in their own movies before bringing them back in other productions.

DC Comics has done it too, bringing Superman and Batman together in several movies while the 2017 Justice League added The Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman to the mix.

But in Phillips’s view, Phoenix’s Joker won’t be granted a similar fate – even though some projects on the horizon at DC, such as an upcoming Suicide Squad reboot, might give filmmakers opportunities to feature the character.

“It’s [Joker] not really connected to that [DC Movie] Universe,” Phillips said according to Comicbook.com.

“And it was really intentionally not. I mean the original idea when I went to [Warner Bros] with the idea was not just about one movie, but about a label – sort of a side label to DC, where you can do this kind of character study, low-rent, low-budget movies, where you get a filmmaker to come in and do some deep dive into a character.

“So it was never meant to connect, so I don’t see it connecting to anything in the future. I think this is just this movie, you know?”

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Phillips, however, hasn’t dismissed the possibility of doing more Joker films starring Phoenix, as long as the actor is willing.

“One thing I will tell you: I would do anything with Joaquin, any day of the week,” Phillips told Total Film Magazine, in an excerpt published by Comicbook.com.

“There’s nobody like him. If he was willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and Warners came to us and said, ‘You know what? If you guys could think of something…’

“Well, I have a feeling that he and I could think of something pretty cool.”

Joker will be released on 4 October in the UK and in the US.