The movie doesn't hit theaters until October 2019, but it's already creating a lot of buzz.
Joker won't be hitting theaters until October 2019, but it's already generating a lot of buzz.
Over the weekend, fans of the Batman villain got a first look at Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, but it wasn't until a week later that director Todd Phillips shared a video of the three-time Oscar nominee in full makeup.
"Camera test (w/ sound). Joker," he captioned the 31-second clip he posted to Instagram on Friday.
To the tune of The Guess Who's 1969 song, "Laughing," Phoenix is first seen without makeup, standing in front of the camera, casually dressed with his hands in his pockets. He's presumably Arthur Fleck in this moment, but halfway through the short clip, flashes of the Joker start to appear as Phoenix begins to grin.
It's not until the end of the video that the 43-year-old actor goes full Joker by sporting white face paint, a blue teardrop and a terrifying drawn-on red smile.
While fans have only so far seen Phoenix's role come alive in sneak peeks of this origin movie, the film boasts a pretty acclaimed cast. In addition to its leading man, Joker -- which is being produced by Martin Scorsese -- also stars Robert De Niro, Marc Maron, Frances Conroy and Zazie Beetz.
For a short time, Alec Baldwin was cast as Thomas Wayne, Bruce Wayne's father, but has since left the project.
Prior to Phoenix filling the role, Jared Leto portrayed the Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad, the late Heath Ledger earned a posthumous Oscar for playing the character in 2008's The Dark Knight and Jack Nicholson famously portrayed the maniacal villain in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman.
Joker hits theaters on Oct. 4, 2019. In the meantime, here's what Leto told ET about what it was like playing the infamous comic book character:
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