The first trailer for Joker — Todd Phillips’ Joker origin movie starring cape enthusiast and three-time Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix — debuted Wednesday morning. Since then, people on Twitter have been having fun making jokes, speculating about Easter eggs, and contrasting the trailer with other films. Robert De Niro has already confirmed there’s a connection between Joker and Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy, beyond the fact that Scorsese is a producer on Joker. People quickly made comparisons to other movies and TV shows as well:
— Dan Van Winkle (@Dan_Van_Winkle) April 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/cadenmgardner/status/1113449325588361216
when Pagliacci sees he's trending on Twitter vs when Pagliacci sees why he's trending on twitter pic.twitter.com/CMUeRUBUr9
— Kenny Keil (@kennykeil) April 3, 2019
This is the Joker origin story I was hoping for pic.twitter.com/fyXgk1yrvm
— @rob-sheridan.com on BSky (@rob_sheridan) April 3, 2019
I don’t know why the new Joker movie takes place in an episode of Atlanta but sign me up pic.twitter.com/NIzycRitBk
— yc (@yc) April 3, 2019
new joker looks so good pic.twitter.com/lHZoaVzGZ4
— Seinfeld Current Day (@Seinfeld2000) April 3, 2019
And just as people were drawing comparisons between Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker and Heath Ledger’s (two guys who were friends in real life, so maybe don’t pit them against each other in a manufactured catfight?), the references to other on-screen Joker performances continued throughout the day:
idk about this new Joker does he even know how to arrange knives in a semicircle so that he can laugh near them
— David Sims (@davidlsims) April 3, 2019
1989: what if the Joker was a mobster
2008: what if the Joker was a nihilist
2016: what if the Joker was a punk
2019: what if the Joker was that guy in your office who comments “Beautiful😍” on all your Instagram posts
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) April 3, 2019
Cesar Romero: 1966
23 years
Jack Nicholson: 1989
19 years
Heath Ledger: 2008
8 years
Jared Leto: 2016
3 years
Joaquin Phoenix: 2019At this rate, we should have another Joker by earl 2021, and then new jokers every few months then weeks then days then hours until all is joker
— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) April 3, 2019
And some folks were just glad to see a gritty ’70s or ’80s era New York City and Joaquin Phoenix going full Joaquin Phoenix:
https://twitter.com/charles_kinbote/status/1113431362701336580
I know Twitter is overrun with bad takes on the Joker trailer, but…I'm totally down for Joaquin Phoenix acting his ass off for two hours in a setting that meticulously evokes grimy, 70s-80s era New York City. I could care less about how it fits into the bigger DC mythology.
— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) April 3, 2019
People also pointed out it’s probably for the best this movie is set before Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989, because this Arthur Fleck fellow would definitely be a weird internet dude:
The Joker movie looks really good and I’m thankful it takes place before The Internet cause this guy, oof, he’d be Online.
— Eric Szyszka (@ericszyszka) April 3, 2019
Oh I get it The Joker is one of the guys who posts pictures of my feet on reddit next to my home address.
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) April 3, 2019
And some continued the argument about his weird internet dude vibes by pointing out stereotypes about stand up comedians:
Just watched The Joker trailer. I hate origin stories but "Mediocre man wants to be funny" is the realest villain explanation I've heard yet.
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) April 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/ryschutt/status/1113469366492966912
https://twitter.com/casersatz/status/1113447368672854016
the least believable thing about the joker is that there's a comedian who does crimes but none of them are sexual
— Ivan Hernandez (@ivan_hernandez) April 3, 2019
And people re-contextualized this Joker’s origin story to make it a little too real:
https://twitter.com/alanzilberman/status/1113432267098079234
Look I get why people are so excited about the trailer for Joker but I also just don't know if I have it in me to get enthusiastic about a movie that's basically, "Sad white man loses it, seeks revenge on the world"
— Lux Alptraum 🦋 luxalptraum.com (@LuxAlptraum) April 3, 2019
No thanks, the Joker movie. If I want to hear about a white guy who starts murdering people because he got picked on, I’ll just watch the news.
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) April 3, 2019
And finally, there were the people who decided to just blow our fragile minds or focus on the bigger picture:
Joaquin is just quinoa pronounced in reverse
— Kyle 🌱 (@KylePlantEmoji) April 3, 2019
Personally, I think a Joker movie would only be interesting if Batman is completely a figment of the Joker's imagination. A total Tyler Durden scenario.
— Aaron Fullerton (@AaronFullerton) April 3, 2019
disappointed in everyone on here today. crime isn’t a joke, people
— mattie lubchansky (@Lubchansky) April 3, 2019