Before Matt Reeves’ The Batman was shut down for two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were rumors that Johnny Depp was set to join the cast as the Joker. Unsustained rumors, and The Batman already has a stuffed cast (including Zoe Kravtiz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as Riddler, and Colin Farrell as the Penguin), but rumors nonetheless. The last thing the world needs is another Joker, after Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for playing the Clown Prince of Crime four years after Jared Leto did… not win an Oscar, but director Kevin Smith thinks Depp is “kinda f*cking perfect” for the role.
On a recent episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast, Smith said, “There’s a big rumor going around that says they’ve been talking to Johnny Depp about possibly playing the Joker in Matt Reeves’ The Batman movie. Now this is the first anyone’s even heard about there being a possibility of a Joker in The Batman movie… but it looks like now this is an Oscar bait part. Who the f*ck wouldn’t want to play the Joker?” He brought Phoenix winning an Oscar, and the late Heath Ledger doing the same in The Dark Knight, before bringing it back to Depp (who is zero-for-three at the Academy Awards).
“Of all the actors out there that could possibly take a role of the dice on the Joker, Johnny Depp (is) actually kinda f*cking perfect… You gotta admit he’d be fun man, like of all the parts he’s played, he’s kind of perfect for a take on The Joker.”
Again, it’s extremely unlikely that there’s any truth to these reports, but: If Robert Pattinson’s first Batman movie has three villains, then the sequel is going to need at least six, obviously. So, who should play the Riddler to Depp’s Joker (assuming his legal issues are out of the way)? Maybe let Jim Carrey do it again. That just leaves Mad Hatter and Solomon Grundy (played by Kevin Smith?) and Calendar Man and…
Watch the Fatman Beyond episode below.
(Via Comic Book)
