Joker: Joaquin Phoenix should play the White Knight next

Following his performance in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix would be an incredible The White Knight.

Joker was number one at the box office for another week. This weekend, it took down The Addams Family remake and Will Smith’s Gemini Man. Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime has been met with praise, which isn’t shocking. As of right now, this is going to be a one-off story. However, we all know that money can change that. Considering the movie’s budget was $55 million and, as of now, Joker has made over $200 million, it won’t be shocking if (or when) there’s another Joker project greenlit. Especially since the film ended with more than just wiggle room for another project.

One of the biggest criticisms against the project was that the director, Todd Phillips, said that there wouldn’t be any comic book material. He was misquoted. He cleared it up by saying:

"“We kind of picked and chose what we liked from the kind of 80-year canon of Joker. We kind of pulled a few things that we liked.”"

If you’ve seen the movie, you can easily tell which parts were taken from the source material. After seeing this movie, it was clear that Todd Phillips left a door open for more Joker projects. One story, in particular, seems to fit this perfectly. That series is Batman: White Knight.

Batman: White Knight is all about Joker becoming sane and doing what he could to make Gotham City better. While doing that, he was trying to show Batman that his way isn’t working. In fact, it was actually hurting Gotham. In the first part of the series, Batman is chasing Joker and causing millions of dollars in property damage, all while endangering people’s lives. He was out of control, and Batman almost kills Joker in a fit of rage, pummeling him and forcing him to take medication that may have killed him. The pills made Joker sane again. Now going by his real name (Jack Napier), he worked on his appeal, won, and set a plan in motion to save Gotham.

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Another major part of Batman: White Knight was how the rich didn’t care about anything other than themselves. That was Arthur’s biggest concern. He was tired of the lower class citizens being treated poorly, while the rich looked down on them and called them names. Jack Napier made it a point to visit the parts of Gotham that the police and government didn’t care about. He became their White Knight.

Joaquin Phoenix would kill this role. We already know he’s an outstanding actor, what he would do here would be another notch on his belt. Joker, The Boys, and Deadpool are only three examples of unconventional comic book projects that people have gravitated towards. These projects specifically cater to adults. Another great part about this is that the movie would happen after Batman has been an established hero. We know the story. We can skip Thomas and Martha Wayne being shot in a dark alley while the pearls get stolen.

Of course, this all just me being hopeful. Todd Phillips may not want to go with a comic book story arc, Even though this would be a fantastic idea. It would bring in more comic book fans on top of the people who just enjoyed Joker. Batman: White Knight is also a story where he wouldn’t have to sacrifice his artistic integrity to pander to a crowd. It’s a deep story about everything he was saying  in Joker while showing that there’s more to fixing Gotham than using violence. This would and should be the way to go if there is going to be a sequel.

What do you think? Should there be a sequel? Do we need one? Is Batman: White Knight the way to go? Let us know in the comments below.