Meet Arthur, Joaquin Phoenix’s Pre-Joker Character from ‘Joker’

 

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Arthur.

A post shared by Todd Phillips (@toddphillips1) on Sep 16, 2018 at 12:12pm PDT

Production is underway in New York City on Todd Phillips' standalone DC flick Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, and we now have our first look at the actor in character... as Arthur. It's kind of a doofy picture of the actor—his hair looks ridiculous and he's wearing a Steve Bannon barn jacket—showing his character before he morphs into the titular villain.

Phillips shared the pic on his Instagram account, giving us our first confirmation that Phoenix's character doesn't have a Rupert Pupkin-esque mustache. If you're unaware, rumors have strongly pointed to the film being something of an homage to Martin Scorsese's most underrated film, 1983's The King of Comedy.

In that film, a nobody named Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) kidnaps a famous talk show host (Jerry Lewis) in order to fulfill his dream of hosting The Tonight Show. De Niro is in Joker, leading many to speculate that he'll be taking the Jerry Lewis role opposite Phoenix's Pupkin-esque Joker.

Personally, I would've loved for "Arthur" to have had a mustache that then gets bleached or painted over, Cesar Romero-style, when he becomes the Joker. I guess we can't have it all, though. Joker hits theaters on October 4, 2019.