Is a new DC Renaissance upon us? Aquaman was fun, Shazam is (spoiler alert!) shockingly good, Wonder Woman 1984 is on the horizon for 2020, and Joaquin Phoenix actually made a movie where he plays the Joker. I mean look at that sentence! 2019 is the craziest of all possible futures.

Phoenix shot this standalone Joker with director Todd Phillips last fall and winter. Now Phillips is editing the movie ahead of a release next fall. He’s already released several pictures of Phoenix in his Joker makeup; today he shared a new black-and-white still of Phoenix on set. Take a look:

I don’t know what to make of this Joker movie. It sounds on paper like ... a not-good idea? But Phoenix is such an incredible actor; probably my favorite actor working in Hollywood today. A movie where he just burrows into the weird, broken psychology of this guy — free of any Batman stuff — could potentially be very interesting. So I remain cautiously optimistic.

Joker opens in theaters on October 4, 2019.

Gallery — Actors Who’ve Appeared in Both Marvel and DC Movies:

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