Warner Bros.

As you may have heard, DC cinematic landscape now has an abundance (or surplus) of Jokers to deal with. That’s exciting news for hair dye manufacturers, but it has made for a sort of muddled picture of the order of things going forward. If you’re confused by the current state of affairs, you’re not alone. It’s left Margot Robbie confused as well.

DC’s big screen Harley Quinn has number of different projects on her plate (Suicide Squad 2, Gotham City Sirens) and when asked about when we can expect to see Harley next during TIFF press for I, Tonya Robbie admitted that she didn’t really know for sure.

“I think next year I’ll be back in the fishnets wielding a baseball bat, I hope,” she told The Wrap.

Pressed on if that appearance will be “with the new Joker movie,” the Australian actress wasn’t able to confirm that info. Not because she’s staying tight-lipped, but because she plain ol’ doesn’t know.

“Your guess is as good as mine at this point,” she explained. “I don’t know.”

To be honest, there’s sort of a fun novelty to seeing a more loosey goosey of an approach in DC/WB’s current future movie slate versus the determined 100 years in advance style meticulousness of the MCU.

Ideally, wherever Harley officially winds up next is a worthy showcase of her demented charms. Still, it’s hard not to read into this sort of thing another example of the confusion swirling around what DC has in store for the future. Justice League reshoots, daily drama about the status of The Batman and unanswered questions concerning Jared Leto’s Joker’s place in the scheme of things isn’t exactly presenting a picture of a smoothly run superhero movie factory. Here’s hoping things work out for everybody and we get some quality motion pictures out of it.

(Via The Wrap & io9)

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Jared Leto’s method acting is a topic that comes up often, especially in the context of his on-set antics as The Joker in Suicide Squad. Leto stayed in character and gave his coworkers strange gifts, although he has denied some of the rumored gifts (the “used condoms” rumor in particular). Unfortunately — or fortunately — most of those antics didn’t end up on camera, but if they had, Leto would have never seen them anyway. He hasn’t watched the movie.

Leto spoke to SYFY WIRE while promoting Blade Runner 2049, a film for which he temporarily blinded himself on the altar of method acting, and the subject turned to Suicide Squad. He revealed he’s never seen Suicide Squad, nor has he seen many of his other performances, because, “As soon as you watch it, that’s when it becomes subjective.” He explained, “I just think with watching your own films, it can be too self-conscious of a process. You either like what you did and you’re prone to repeat it, or you didn’t like it, and it can make you self-conscious. I’m not sure how much win there is for me. But I read the scripts, so I know what’s going to happen.”

That actually… makes sense? Huh. I’ll be damned. There’s a method to the madness.

Leto doesn’t seem to be avoiding the film due to any dislike of the role (he’s reportedly committed to a sequel and a Harley Quinn spin-off and is rumored to be upset that there may be a Joker movie without him). He just rarely watches his own movies. He has made exceptions, however. He told SYFY he watched Requiem for a Dream and will likely watch Blade Runner 2049 eventually. Apparently no one can resist Blade Runner. But we have to ask: Will he wear the white contacts to watch it as his blind character would? Will he wear the green coat? Important questions, these.

(Via SYFY)

Warner

When Heath Ledger yelled “Hit me” as the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight, he really meant it, as revealed by newly-printed interviews in 100 Things Batman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Joseph McCabe. The book released last Sunday, and excerpts from McCabe’s interviews with Christian Bale, Chris Nolan, and Ledger were reprinted in the Hollywood Reporter.

In a prior interview, Christian Bale said of Ledger’s performance, “He’s so much more interesting than me and what I’m doing.” In the new interview, Bale speaks of Ledger’s total commitment to making the memorable interrogation scene look realistic:

“Our first scene was in an interrogation room together, and I saw that he’s a helluva actor who’s completely committed to it and totally gets the tone that Chris [Nolan] is trying to create with this. […] As you see in the movie, Batman starts beating the Joker and realizes that this is not your ordinary foe. Because the more I beat him the more he enjoys it. The more I’m giving him satisfaction. Heath was behaving in a very similar fashion. He was kinda egging me on. I was saying, ‘You know what, I really don’t need to actually hit you. It’s going to look just as good if I don’t.’ And he’s going, ‘Go on. Go on. Go on….’ He was slamming himself around, and there were tiled walls inside of that set which were cracked and dented from him hurling himself into them. His commitment was total.”

Here’s the scene, for reference:

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Ledger throwing himself (sometimes literally) into the part. He spent about a month in a hotel room practicing the voice and making a diary which included clippings from the comic, pictures from A Clockwork Orange, joker playing cards, and more.

Director Chris Nolan also referenced one of those cultural touchstones when McCabe asked him about what informed Ledger’s performance. Nolan says some of the influences they discussed included Alex from A Clockwork Orange (who is both anarchic yet charismatic), Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious, and… ventriloquist dummies? “The way they would talk and the way they would move and all kinds of peculiar ideas that I wasn’t really able to get a handle on until I saw him start to perform the scenes, and start to show how the character moved and how the character gestured and how the character spoke, with this extraordinarily unpredictable voice,” Nolan explained. “The range of the voice, from its highest pitch to its lowest pitch, is very extreme, and where it shifts is unpredictable and sudden.”

We assumed Tom Waits was an influence, but ventriloquist dummies also make sense and could probably be the subject of a great Tom Waits song, come to think of it.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter and Triumph Books)

DC/FOX

DC’s digital service is joining Warner Bros. and the rest of the DC entertainment world in getting firmly behind Harley Quinn as possibly the second or third-most important character in their superhero universe (after Batman and Wonder Woman). Deadline is reporting that DC’s streaming service is developing a full 26-episode half-hour animated series based around Quinn after she finally breaks from the thrall of Joker. For real this time.

Below is development art featuring Quinn, Poison Ivy, Clayface and many other supervillains in Batman’s rogue’s gallery:

According to Deadline, the series will feature most of the villains featured in the image above as Quinn attempts to take over the underbelly of Gotham in her own bubbly, psychotic way. There’s no mention of Joker, which seems a bit odd, but maybe they’ll explain why he and Harley split when the series kicks off.

As far as who’s playing Quinn, Margot Robbie is reportedly “at the top of Warner Bros.’ list” to voice the character after she stole the show in Suicide Squad. If that happens, that means Robbie might be voicing the character in 26 animated episodes, while also potentially playing Quinn in a Joker/Quinn “criminal love story” that’s being fast-tracked at Warner Bros. for a release within the next two years. After that, Suicide Squad 2.

(Via Deadline)

Warner Bros.

Suicide Squad didn’t make as much money as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and wasn’t as critically admired as Wonder Woman, and it lacked the CGI mustache controversy of Justice League, but there’s one thing it has that the other films in the DC Extended Universe don’t: an Oscar. (Never forget.) But despite winning more Academy Awards than Taxi Driver, Suicide Squad director David Ayer (and everyone who saw it) has some issues with his own movie.

In response to a Twitter user who tweeted, “Watched suicide squad the other night on HBO & genuinely enjoyed it” (there was also the obligatory “it was for the fans, not the critics” burn), Ayer responded, “Yeah it was a big fun silly movie. It could have been a bigger success had I done it a little different. But it did great and made an impression.” When someone else suggested that the Joker should have been the film’s villain, the Bright director agreed, writing, “Believe me. I agonize over this. Yes. Joker should have been main bad guy.”

Suicide Squad has a lot of problems — it was too long, too trashy, too proud of its depravity; Margot Robbie was good, though! — but Ayer is correct that the Joker, not Enchantress, should have been the Big Bad. Maybe not Jared Leto’s edgelord Joker, but a less Hot Topic-y version of the Clown Prince of Crime.

Ayer can try again with Gotham City Sirens.

WB

With Justice League underperforming at the box office, the DC cinematic universe has found itself on shaky ground (although still in better shape than Universal’s Dark Universe, RIP). That relative uncertainty is not slowing down actress Margot Robbie in the least, though, who told MTV that she is working on a stand-alone film for Harley Quinn.

According to Robbie, she has been developing this project for two years now, and it is a completely separate project than the rumored movie focused on her relationship with the Joker and the Gotham City Sirens film in the works. While Robbie was as cagey as she has been in the past about Quinn’s future, she did say that it would be a female-centric film, saying “she needs her girlfriends. She needs other girls around her.” Maybe these alleged girlfriends can explain how toxic her romance with the Joker is.

Although Suicide Squad was a disappointment critically, Robbie’s Quinn was the clear standout, elevating the material and giving fans a nuanced yet deranged take on a beloved character. If there is anything to save from Squad‘s missteps, it’s the baseball bat-wielding badass. She is the other side of Wonder Woman‘s more virtuous coin, and they just might be what it takes to save DC from itself.

(Via MTV)

Warner

Despite quite a few negative reviews, Warner’s Suicide Squad still made a lot of money and won an Oscar (seriously). It was also successful enough to spur rumors about a sequel and spin-offs like a Joker and Harley Quinn movie, a Harley standalone movie, and Gotham City Sirens. The last of those may still be directed by David Ayer, who recently exited the Scarface reboot but has been keeping busy re-teaming with Will Smith for Netflix’s Bright.

There’s been no official announcement of Ayer directing another DC movie. Does that mean he didn’t like the experience? Apparently not, as Ayer explained on Twitter when asked if he regrets directing Suicide Squad or regrets working with Warner:

“Not for a second. Not for one second. I got to work with amazing people. It won an Oscar, did incredible business. Launched a franchise and spinoff. And like it or not it’s halfway to cult status. I grew as a person, grew creatively. Warners took a chance on me. I’m grateful.”

This jibes with how Ayer responded when the first Suicide Squad reviews started rolling in and he tweeted an Emiliano Zapata quote which translates as, “I’d prefer to die standing than to live always on my knees” then followed up by explaining, “Zapata quote is my way of saying I love the movie and believe in it. Made it for the fans. Best experience of my life.”

So while Ayer has expressed some regrets about the details surrounding Suicide Squad — saying he cut out too many Joker scenes and should have made Joker the main villain — he doesn’t regret making the film or working with Warner. And who knows? Maybe he’ll agree with Jared Leto that there were enough Joker scenes for their own movie and he’ll make the all-Joker movie we don’t necessarily want yet can’t resist watching. The bodies, the floor, hitting it.

(Via David Ayer)

Via Fox

The fall finale episode of Gotham Season 4 airs this Thursday, and — being a finale episode — you know what that means: not-actually-the-joker-but-may-as-well-be character Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) is coming back to be killed, maimed, or otherwise used as an entertaining misdirection again. Executive producer John Stephens admitted as much earlier this year, Monaghan himself posted on Instagram from the set last month, and now this trailer for the finale makes it official:

Jerome’s scars seem to have healed a bit — his face was cut off, stapled back on, then literally punched off like a Death Of The Family homage, if you haven’t been keeping up with this bonkers show — and, thanks to some interviews, we have an idea of what may be ahead for the character.

Robin Lord Taylor, who plays Penguin, told Comic Book that the two have a scene together. “I just had the most amazing episode with Cameron Monaghan. There are very few scenes I’ve done on the show that I felt so… That captured the full range of human emotion and what you can put a person through, so yeah. It’s really incredible,” he said. “Chaos and order. These are two things that are very volatile together. At the same time, they both understand fundamentally what it means to control people.” He compared the two villains to magnets, teasing that they may either “snap together or be archenemies until the end of time.”

Meanwhile, the showrunners are still playing the is-he-or-isn’t-he-the-Joker game, although things seem to be falling squarely into the “not the Joker” camp of late. Co-executive producer Bryan Wynbrandt told Comic Book, “Jerome is our homage. He’s obviously not the Joker himself, although we clearly seems to be the impetus that eventually creates the Joker. The more that we see him, the more he carves out his own path I’d say. I wouldn’t say he becomes more the Joker, but the Jerome character continues to evolve.”

In other words, this is not the Joker in the DC television world. This is just a tribute.

We probably should have known the showrunners had decided against making Jerome officially the Joker considering how they originally planned to end the previous episode the character appeared in. Monaghan told Nerdist his character died by beheading in an earlier version of that script. The writers later decided to leave it open-ended, having Jerome keep his head and land in Arkham Asylum instead. Now it appears he’s going to escape Arkham, possibly with Penguin’s involvement. Maybe it’ll work out better than the last time Penguin helped someone get out of Arkham.

Here’s the full synopsis for the fall finale episode, “Queen Takes Knight”:

Things get complicated for Gordon, Sophia and Penguin when Carmine Falcone (guest star John Doman) comes to town. Alfred tries to get through to Bruce once and for all, while Nygma struggles to gain control over The Riddler persona and Tabitha attempts to make Grundy remember his past. Meanwhile, a familiar smile resurfaces in Gotham.

Gotham‘s fall finale airs this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.

(Via Gotham, Cameron Monaghan, Comic Book [1, 2], and Nerdist)

Warner

It was 10 years ago today, on January 22, 2008, that actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment from what was later discovered to be an “abuse of prescribed medications.” Almost immediately, there were rumors that the actor’s mental and physical transformation into The Joker for his legendary performance in The Dark Knight, which won him an Oscar, had something to do with his passing. But according to his sister, Kate, that’s all they were: rumors.

“I was really shocked, because that was him having fun,” she said. “Every report was coming out that he was depressed and that [the role] was taking this toll on him, and we’re going, honestly, it was the absolute opposite. It couldn’t be more wrong. He had an amazing sense of humor, and I guess maybe only his family and friends knew that, but he was having fun.”

Ledger left behind a fine film legacy in roles as varied as the long-haired teenage heartthrob in 10 Things I Hate About You, an Oscar-nominated Wyoming ranch hand in Brokeback Mountain, and one of many Bob Dylans in I’m Not There, but The Joker was his masterpiece. I still remember the Halloween after The Dark Knight came out, when you couldn’t go 10 feet without someone, in full white-face makeup, doing their best “never start with the head” impression. It was a morbid shadow of the real thing — if only they had a “Joker diary.”

In a clip from the documentary series Too Young to Die (which you can watch on Netflix), Ledger’s father flips through the diary his son kept while preparing for The Dark Knight. “I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices — it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh,” Heath said in 2007. “I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath — someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts. He’s just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown.” Here’s a look through the pages.

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BroadviewPictures

You can watch the full episode here.

The fall finale episode of Gotham Season 4 brought back supposedly-not-the-joker-but-come-on-already character Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) to share a cell in Arkham with Penguin and make a lot of Joker references. But he’s not the Joker. Supposedly. And now two cast members continue to suggest the character’s not the Joker, while one of the cast members suggests he already knows how the real Joker is soon being introduced.

David Mazouz (who plays Bruce Wayne) told the Discussing Film podcast this week, regarding Jerome, “He’s not the Joker, that’s all I’m saying. He’s definitely the inspiration for the Joker and the way that the Joker comes into the show is one of the most brilliant things Gotham has ever done.”

It’s worth noting Mazouz previously said Harley Quinn was going to be in the Season 3 finale, which ended up being incorrect. Executive producer John Stephens later apologized for the confusion, saying “we’re never going to see Harley Quinn. Sorry about that.” On the other hand, what Mazouz said this week lines up with what co-executive producer Bryan Wynbrandt has said: “Jerome is our homage. He’s obviously not the Joker himself, although we clearly seems to be the impetus that eventually creates the Joker.” (The full quote from Wynbrandt is at Comic Book.)

Meanwhile, Cameron Monaghan, who plays Jerome, tweeted then deleted a confirmation of Mazouz’s podcast appearance, saying, “I can confirm. What we’ve cooked up and discussed is something not to be missed. It’s a twist on familiar themes, both new and old echoes of the mythos. Something entirely new, but we believe true to the spirit of the show as well as the comics. Proud I got to be a part of it.”

We’re assuming whatever they’ve cooked up for the Joker will be left as a cliffhanger for the not-yet-officially-greenlit fifth season. Gotham is one season away from having enough episodes for syndication, so getting that fifth season made is a big priority. Working in Gotham‘s favor, surprisingly, is the Disney buyout of Fox. Gotham is one of a small handful of shows on FOX that isn’t owned by 20th Century FOX, meaning Disney won’t have it, and FOX will likely cling to any original content Disney can’t control.

There’s a promo video for Season 4 episode 12 above. In addition to all the Joker references, it also teases the return of Ra’s al Ghul (Alexander Siddig), because nobody really dies in Gotham. The video and Gotham‘s official Twitter announced Season 4 picks up again on Thursday, March 1st on FOX.

Clown emojis? That’s like the DCU equivalent of texting eggplant emojis. Promises promises.

(Via Coming Soon, Comic Book, Screen Rant, Discussing Film, and Gotham)

Warner

Heath Ledger passed away six months before The Dark Knight, the film that won him a posthumous Oscar for his career-best performance as the Joker, was released and became a worldwide hit. There have long been rumors that Ledger would have returned for The Dark Knight Rises, but director Christopher Nolan has never confirmed as much. Instead, we have to take the word of Heath’s sister, Kate, who in an interview that was published last year (but only just went viral) revealed that her brother was ready to play the Joker again.

“He was so proud of what he had done in [The Dark Knight],” she said. “And I know he had plans for another Batman. He loved working with Chris Nolan and Christian Bale… He just had the best time ever doing that film. When he came home at Christmas, he couldn’t wait to tell us all about it and he was doing the voice and laughing, showing me all the rushes. We had a great time.”

Instead of the possible return of the Joker, the main antagonist in The Dark Knight Rises was Bane, an effective and somewhat incomprehensible villain. But even Tom Hardy (and especially Jared Leto) couldn’t match Ledger’s eccentric villainy.

WARNER BROS.

(Via Slash Film)

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Sorry, Jared Leto, there’s a new edgelord in town, and he likes pulling stunts behind the scenes, too. Joaquin Phoenix (AKA Joaquin Texas Ranger) has reportedly been offered a villain role in a DC movie… again. This time he’s in talks to play The Joker in Todd Phillips’ untitled Joker origin movie. He was rumored to have been offered the Lex Luthor role in Batman V Superman, and he even expressed some interest in trying out a blockbuster role. And it wasn’t just DC movies he had a prior brush with. He was also rumored to take the role of Doctor Strange when Benedict Cumberbatch reportedly had scheduling conflicts (those worked themselves out). In other words, Phoenix might be taking a comic book movie role after several close calls.

According to Variety, “Phoenix has agreed to the role” after he and Hangover director Todd Phillips spoke before the new year, and now they’re “just waiting for the studio’s go-ahead.” Previously, Leonardo DiCaprio had been rumored for the role, in part because Martin Scorsese is involved as a producer, but that didn’t work out. Nonetheless, the rumors understandably came as a surprise to Jared Leto, who didn’t seem to know there is going to be a separate set of movies without him. This Joker movie is reportedly a launch point for separate storylines with different actors.

We’re not sure how Joaquin Phoenix could possibly top human embodiment of the HAM horn Jared Leto, but we hope it involves a cape.

(Via Variety)

Fox

Gotham Season 4 returns tonight on FOX with a new Poison Ivy (Peyton List) and more of supposedly-not-the-joker-but-whatever Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan). We won’t be seeing Jerome until the next episode on March 8th, however, as the actor confirmed, but another actor on the series — David Mazouz, who plays Bruce Wayne — hinted at what happens when the series officially introduces the Joker later this season.

Last month Monaghan revealed when his character returns and hinted at the strange things coming:

The official synopsis for the March 8th episode, “A Dark Knight: A Beautiful Darkness,” followed soon after:

Ivy tracks a secret project on which Wayne Enterprises is working and begins to target anyone that can give her information. Meanwhile, Jerome becomes obsessed with Penguin in Arkham. Also, Gordon begins to second guess his deal with Sofia and an unsettling dream sequence shakes up Bruce.

Now in an interview with Comic Book, David Mazouz again claimed Jerome isn’t the Joker but hinted at the connection between the two characters and how Joker’s introduction will shock people:

“It really is one of the biggest shocks. I think it’s safe to say that this kind of transition is not only the smartest thing, but the biggest kind of surprise that Gotham has thrown at its audience. […] We’ve been asking ourselves this question, ‘Is Jerome the Joker? He obviously is acting a lot like the Joker. Is he the Joker?’ This is a perfect way to answer that, because we don’t want to say yes, but we don’t want to say no. We don’t want to say no because Jerome is so much like the Joker, so what they end up doing is kind of a great balanced way to answer that question and to have Jerome maybe be involved in the creation of the Joker but have him not be the Joker.”

Mazouz went on to say, “[Jerome] is not the man that will have green hair and a pale face. He’s not that man.” This being Gotham, that probably means he’s totally that man. Or maybe they’ll do some kind of bonkers body swap with a different actor. Ooo, maybe Joaquin Phoenix? Wouldn’t see that coming.

Whatever they end up doing, hopefully they’ll keep guest star Monaghan around in some capacity. His Joker/not-Joker was just given an endorsement by another Joker, Mark Hamill:

(Via Comic Book, Screen Rant, We Got This Covered, and SyFy)

FOX

Gotham Season 4 is finally back, and it sounds like it’s going to get even more bonkers. Gotham executive producers Danny Cannon and John Stephens teased the rest of the season during an episode of DC All Access. Cannon gave a cryptic answer about maybe-Joker-maybe-not character Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan), saying, “We will see a conclusion to that character. Or is it a new beginning?” (Gotham, I will fight you.) Meanwhile, Stephens revealed what Jerome is plotting. He said this about seven and a half minutes into the episode:

“Jerome has a plan for Gotham, and so he wants to get out into Gotham and make the asylum that is Arkham Asylum be reflected in Gotham as a whole. He can’t do it himself, so he has to put together his own Legion of Horribles, which includes Penguin as his right hand, and then all these other characters who we know from the rogues gallery: Scarecrow and Jervis Tetch, who’s gonna come back as well, Firefly, Freeze. They sit around a table much like this one where Jerome can sit at the head of it, and we have his band of terrible people.”

As We Got This Covered points out, that sounds an awful lot like this panel from Batman: The Long Halloween, even though the cast and crew of this show keep saying Jerome is not the Joker:

DC Comics

If that isn’t self-referential enough, Fox also released some promo photos that show Captain Gordon with a mustache (!).

FOX

Sure, it’s just a fake mustache for a costume party (and not the first time Ben McKenzie has donned a fake mustache for a meta costume), but we appreciate a good joke. Speaking of laughing, Fox released a synopsis and promo for tonight’s episode:

TRY LAUGHING NOW ON AN ALL-NEW “GOTHAM” THURSDAY, MARCH 8, ON FOX
Ivy (guest star Peyton List) tracks a secret project on which Wayne Enterprises is working and begins to target anyone that can give her information. Meanwhile, Jerome (guest star Cameron Monaghan) becomes obsessed with Penguin in Arkham. Also, Gordon begins to second guess his deal with Sofia and an unsettling dream sequence shakes up Bruce in the all-new “A Dark Knight: A Beautiful Darkness” episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, March 8 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

In other words, don’t expect to see the Legion of Horribles come together for awhile. Penguin isn’t even on board yet.

(Via DC All Access, We Got This Covered, CBM, and FOX)

Fox

Gotham has been teasing their eventual introduction of the Joker since before the first episode had even aired, and now a plan is finally coming together. Hey, it only took four seasons. Anyway, we just learned from executive producers Danny Cannon and John Stephens that Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) would be assembling a Legion of Horribles this season, although Cannon enigmatically stated, “We will see a conclusion to [Jerome]. Or is it a new beginning?” Bruce Wayne actor David Mazouz also spoke ambiguously about whether or not Jerome would eventually become the Joker one way or another, although he did finally say, “He is not the man that will have green hair and a pale face.”

Okay then, if not Jerome, then who? We seem to have our answer now, thanks to interviews with Monaghan and Morena Baccarin (who plays Leslie Thompkins).

In an interview with Bustle, Baccarin let it slip that Monaghan plays two roles this season, one as Jerome and another as one of Jerome’s relatives, whom she described as “psychotic” and interested in Jerome’s plans to start a revolt in Gotham. Monaghan then confirmed the rumor in an interview with Comic Book published on Thursday.

“It’s a very strange thing. Obviously I can’t get too much into what the theory is or what that’s like. I will say that I wanted to make this guy feel distinct and I wanted to make him be visually different, I wanted him to carry himself different, I wanted his voice to be different. I wanted everything about him to be accepted. So that’s a challenge in itself, but also a challenge is, you’re basically acting with yourself. It’s a very weird thing. It’s definitely one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to do as an actor. It was a bit of a head-trip.”

In case there was any doubt about the other character’s identity, he went on to say, “I think it helps spin the narrative of both Jerome and the Joker, in a new and exciting kind of way. It adds its own twist to the mythos. I think it’s really fun and really unique. So yeah. I can’t tell you enough, it’s a really cool challenge.”

Yes, this does all sound like the old “evil twin” switcheroo. And yes, we would expect nothing less bonkers from Gotham.

(Via Bustle and Comic Book)

Tommy Wiseau is one of those amorphous blobs of entertainment that’s become ever-more powerful after the success of The Disaster Artist. Wiseau has made his way to the stage (and only the stage) at the Emmys, he’s starring in a sci-fi romance flick, and he has a two-part movie with his The Room co-star and former roommate Greg Sestero on the horizon. Now, Nerdist put him in Joker makeup for some reason. This weird, sunglassed blob, he’s beginning to consume everything.

There are various camps in this whole Tommy Wiseau fandom thing. Some think The Room is ironically genius, many are just fans of Rifftrax and MST3K, but most all respect the guy for actually going out there and laying it all on the line, even if what was laid out was an incoherent mess of unintentional hilarity. But there’s one thing everyone has to admit: the guy is genuine.

It’s this earnest want to be great that seems to make Wiseau actually great in his own way. Yes, he’s terrible in The Room but as the Joker, he presents a maniacal and unpredictable villain that checks all the boxes:

Weird? Yes.

Scary? Kinda, yeah.

A clown prince that can lash out at any moment? Very much so.

You don’t know if this Joker is going to laugh, cry, scream, or make a quiet joke that doesn’t land. It’s perfect. If anything, making The Joker more Tommy Wiseau is what the character needs on-screen, rather than a forehead tattoo and a Ferrari.

(Via Nerdist)

Gotham is wrapping up the last six episodes of Season 4 with the creation of the Legion of Horribles and a seeming end to the question about whether or not Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) is the Joker. Fox has released an extended trailer for the rest of the season (video above), and Ben McKenzie (who plays Jim Gordon) has also revealed details in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Spoilers ahead.

In last week’s episode, Jerome escaped from Arkham along with Mad Hatter (Benedict Samuel) and Scarecrow (David W. Thompson). While Mad Hatter was hypnotizing people and Scarecrow was acquiring chemicals (as they do), Jerome was tracking down his abusive uncle, both to kill him and to extract information (not in that order). His uncle told him, “She picked Saint Ignatius. The school is Saint Ignatius.” The show didn’t explain the meaning, but we already know it thanks to cast interviews.

Monaghan is playing two characters this season. We assumed that meant a twin brother, and several details back that up. Monaghan was recently seen without Jerome’s facial scars, but nonetheless looking Joker-esque, in set photos like these and these. And then there’s the interview with Ben McKenzie, where he says Jerome “or someone very much like him” is a main villain in future episodes. McKenzie also revealed Jerome was supposed to be “a one-off” character in the first season, but they brought him back because “he was so magnetic and so unbelievably committed that it just felt like we had to go further.” That would explain why executive producers of the show have repeatedly insisted Jerome’s not the Joker, but now they seem to be taking a roundabout, suitably campy path to having the actor also play the Joker.

So if Jerome is hunting down his brother at a boarding school next episode, are we going to see the brother soon? Not likely; he should have graduated long ago, but someone at the school might know where he is now. To that end, the list of guest stars for this Thursday’s episode includes Steven Hauck as “Headmaster.” He’s the guy seen in the video above blowing himself up after being hypnotized by the Mad Hatter. So… only one episode for him? Can’t say for sure. Nobody seems to stay dead on this bonkers show.

The trailer above also shows a character laughing hysterically and being sprayed with “the new blend” of gas in two separate scenes. The hysterical laughter suggests the new blend could be Smylex rather than fear gas. Jerome has been saying his plan is to make all of Gotham more insane than Arkham’s inmates. Does he enlist Scarecrow’s help in creating Smylex, albeit a version that causes insanity rather than death? Gotham co-executive producer Bryan Wynbrandt has said Jerome is not the Joker but is “the impetus that eventually creates the Joker,” which raises another question. Is Jerome’s brother already insane or does Jerome dose him with Smylex, turning him into a villain surpassing even his brother? We’ll have to wait a while for the answer, as the season finale isn’t until next month. In the meantime, here’s a promo for this Thursday’s episode which asks, “Who is the Joker?”

IT’S NO LAUGHING MATTER ON AN ALL-NEW GOTHAM THURSDAY, APRIL 5, ON FOX

Gordon and Bullock try to stay one step ahead as Jerome (guest star Cameron Monaghan) zeros in on his next target. Meanwhile, Nygma hosts a riddle game show in the Narrows and faces his toughest challenger in Lee Thompkins, and Penguin goes to see Butch with a proposal in the all-new “A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting” episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, April 5 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter, io9, We Got This Covered, Comic Book, and Gotham)

Fox

Gotham finally resolved the question of whether or not Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) is the Joker in the latest episode, “A Dark Knight: That’s Entertainment.” It happened as we predicted it would after the earlier surprise reveal of Jerome’s twin brother, Jeremiah Valeska aka Xander Wilde, because Gotham is like a soap opera if soap operas showed character deaths on screen and there were multiple deaths in every episode, half of them involving dynamite. (That’s not even an exaggeration. They showed two characters’ heads explode, on screen, in the last episode. And one of them was an archbishop. It’s bonkers.)

In the last episode, Jim Gordon shot Jerome multiple times, causing him to nearly fall off of a building. Rather than allowing Gordon to pull him up, Jerome chose to let go and plummet to his death (a seeming homage to Jack Nicholson’s Joker), but before he did, he said he’ll outlive Gordon. “I’m more than a man. I’m an idea. A philosophy. And I will live on in the shadows with Gotham’s discontent. You’ll be seeing me soon.” What he meant quickly became evident, as the episode ended with Jeremiah opening a gift he thought was from his new employer Wayne Enterprises. As seen in the video above, it was a dose of Smylex from Jerome instead, along with a recorded message:

“Hello, brother. Didn’t think you could get rid of me so easily, did you? See, my days were numbered but you, oh, you can continue on for me. Be my ultimate revenge. So, calm yourself. Breathe it in. This gas was a special mixture I made, just for you. Something to finally set you free. It’s time to have some fun. Burn it down, brother. Burn it all down.”

Jeremiah grabs his head in a visual right out of The Killing Joke, and then there’s some silly CGI to exaggerate his smile. The actor who plays both characters made a joke about the CGI on Twitter over the weekend, referencing both the creepy CGI-removal of Henry Cavill’s mustache in Justice League and the “Snyder cut” of the movie:

He followed that up with a tease of upcoming episodes, saying the “subtle,” post-transformation Jeremiah may be “the darkest, most frightening thing this show has ever done.”

There are four episodes left, suggesting the next episode isn’t going to tie up any threads from this new Joker’s storyline (and thanks to set photos like these and these, we know there’s going to be more Joker this season). It’ll be interesting to see what he does with all the research funding Bruce Wayne offered him in the last episode for an energy-generating device, and it’s only fitting that Batman himself gave Joker the financial backing for his first plot.

Finally, here’s a promo for this Thursday’s likely-Jokerless episode:

Gordon and Bullock try to figure out who the clever thief is behind the robberies of various bank branches in Gotham. Meanwhile, Barbara is put in danger, forcing Tabitha to recruit help in the all-new “A Dark Knight: To Our Deaths and Beyond” episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, April 19 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

(Via Screen Rant, We Got This Covered, Subline, and Gotham)

Fox

If you were wondering if Gotham is still bonkers, wonder no more. After last week’s episode seemed to introduce the Joker as Jerome’s twin brother Jeremiah Valeska (Cameron Monaghan), Gotham showrunner Danny Cannon gave interviews to clarify Jeremiah’s role and to tease a “reboot” of sorts coming in the season finale, “No Man’s Land.”

Despite the Mark Hamill-approved Monaghan looking very Joker-like in set photos like these and these, Cannon told Comic Book he doesn’t think they’ll be calling him (or any one specific person) “Joker.” He went on to explain:

“I think that just spawned the conversation of the idea of it, of the Joker not being a one person, but like I said, it’s a personality. It’s a way of thinking. It’s more powerful than just one person. [… If] the opposite of good, the opposite of Bruce Wayne, is somebody who just wants to destroy, and wants to do it in a chaotic way, then that could be anyone, because you are literally just going the opposite of your main character and take it as far as you can go. I don’t think that’s just one person. I think that is a way of life, it’s an ideology.”

Gotham, I will fight you.

Something less maddening and more conclusive came from that same interview. Cannon also said, “When we first did the pilot, we were trying to create a world where someone like Batman would be necessary […]. How far it can get, how bad it can get before someone dons that black suit, becomes a vigilante that will change the city forever?”

That doesn’t resolve Joker questions, but at least it resolves something else. In most Batman storylines, the question is raised whether Batman’s presence creates the supervillains or whether Batman is just a needed response to the insanity already present in Gotham City. On Gotham, that question is resolved; the city needed a vigilante long before Batman rose up.

In a separate interview, Cannon also revealed that a “cataclysmic event” in the Season 4 finale, “A Dark Knight: No Man’s Land,” is going to “reboot” storylines for the not-yet-official Season 5.

“The cataclysmic event that happens in the last three episodes not only will change Gotham, it not only combines so many characters that you don’t think will cooperate with each other, but it changes the face of Gotham forever, so that season five, it’s almost a reboot and a different show.”

He clarified that it’s a “reboot of stories,” not a re-casting of any characters, and he went on to say, “Just when you thought you knew people, something else will happen, and just when you thought your Season 5 would be like Season 4, Season 5 is completely different.” The title of the finale is a giveaway. Batman: No Man’s Land follows Gotham City after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake turns Gotham into a “no man’s land” cut off from the rest of the country by a military blockade. The premise served as an inspiration for Bane’s takeover of the city in The Dark Knight Rises. Although Batman was stuck outside Gotham in the comic, leaving him trapped in the city for a similar premise in Gotham would seem like the kind of thing that would require a vigilante…

It’s heartening to hear Cannon talking about Season 5, since the show hasn’t been officially renewed. It would be crazy not to renew it, though. Gotham‘s one season away from going into syndication, and it’s also one of the few original shows on Fox that wouldn’t be handed over to Disney if the buyout goes through.

Cannon seemed optimistic about a season renewal. “We’re building to something much bigger. It’s the biggest cliffhanger we’ve done. I mean, there has to be Season 5. Everything points to that because it’s set up in that way.”

Or they’ll end on a huge cliffhanger and I’ll fight them with knives.

On a more positive, less knife-fightey note, Fox chairman Gary Newman seemed set on renewing Gotham when interviewed last week. “We asked a lot of it this year moving to Thursday nights and I thought it did a pretty good job of opening up that night for us. I feel like Gotham should have a place in our schedule,” Newman told Deadline. He explained that it’s “purely be a matter of scheduling. Thursday is not available in the fall, so where do we use it? Hopefully there’s more years of Gotham.”

Or I’ll fight them with knives.

The “cataclysmic event” to come was teased in this promo for tonight’s episode, “A Dark Knight: To Our Deaths and Beyond,” in which a hooded robe-wearing, talking skeleton (this is fine) says, “I saw a vision of a cataclysmic event molding you into a dark knight of Gotham.”

Fox also released a synopsis which sounds like a completely different episode than the one in the video, but, yeah, it’s Gotham, so why not?

Gordon and Bullock try to figure out who the clever thief is behind the robberies of various bank branches in Gotham. Meanwhile, Barbara is put in danger, forcing Tabitha to recruit help in the all-new “A Dark Knight: To Our Deaths and Beyond” episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, April 19 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

This show is going to kill me.

(Via Deadline, Comic Book [1, 2], and Gotham)

Batman prequel show Gotham finally resolved many (but not all) questions about the Joker this month when they introduced Jerome Valeska’s twin brother Jeremiah (both played by Cameron Monaghan), then had Jerome die (again) in a seemingly permanent way (again), but not before he left a booby-trapped jack-in-the-box filled with a dose of Smylex to drive Jeremiah insane and encourage him to “burn it all down.” Now Fox has released another Joker-centric trailer (video above) for the next episodes, and it just raises another slew of questions. Along with that comes a new set photo of the not-Joker-but-whatever character and an additional video teasing a harlequin-suit wearing blond woman (hmm).

In the video above, Jerome’s last will and testament comes in the form of a VHS tape, leading to more mayhem in Gotham and rumors that Jerome is back from the dead again. You might be wondering why Jeremiah doesn’t have the pale-faced look in these upcoming scenes. It appears he might switch back and forth between his normal appearance and an alternate personality, or perhaps he uses makeup to look normal. (The writers still need him to have conversations with Bruce Wayne without raising suspicion, after all.) As for how he’ll look when he’s full-on bonkers, the actor posted a photo to his Instagram captioned “Meet J.”

Via Instagram

Yes, they’re only calling him “J.” instead of Joker. Gotham showrunner Danny Cannon explained they won’t be calling any character “Joker,” but they’re nonetheless leaning heavily into the Joker vibe with these twin brothers and a harlequin-suit wearing character who is obviously Jeremiah’s bodyguard Ecco (Francesca Root-Dodson). Here’s her putting a gun to Jim Gordon’s head while they’re in Jeremiah’s office, standing in front of what appears to be a completed version of his Wayne Enterprises-funded energy-generating invention (which will surely be used only for good ends now that Jeremiah has gone insane).

Via Fox

Don’t expect anyone to call her “Harley,” though. Executive producer John Stephens has said, “We’re never going to see Harley Quinn.” The show may not be calling anyone Joker or Harley, but they’re still doing their own spin on those storylines. That’s one way to get around any conflicts with the movies (and the less this reminds people of Jared Leto’s edgelord Joker, the better).

Here’s the promo and synopsis for this Thursday’s episode:

MAYHEM ENSUES ON AN ALL-NEW “GOTHAM” THURSDAY, MAY 3, ON FOX

Chaos erupts at the GCPD, sending Gordon on a wild goose chase for the culprit behind the mass takeover. Meanwhile, a friend of Bruce’s becomes paranoid, resulting in rash and destructive behavior in the all-new “A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse” episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, May 3 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

(Via Coming Soon, CBM, We Got This Covered, Cameron Monaghan, and Gotham)