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Warner Bros. Discovery's revamp of DC Films could lead to the revival of Todd Phillips' pitch for a DC Black division that was his plan after Joker. Phillips' 2019 movie starred Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a clown-for-hire afflicted with a neurological disorder that causes involuntary laughter. After Fleck kills a group of Gotham City bankers in self-defense, his anonymous act makes him a symbol of standing up to oppression as he begins his gradual transformation into the Joker.
Joker was a one-off story with no connection to the DCEU, nor did it act as a lead-in to the 2022 release of The Batman. Nonetheless, despite some considerable pre-release controversy, Joker became a huge success upon its release. That's something that Discovery evidently took notice of ahead of its merger with Warner Bros.
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It was reported that Discovery is seeking to perform an "overhaul" of Warner Bros.' approach to DC movies. Discovery is said to be concerned that major characters like Superman aren't being used as much as they should be, while the company is also interested in producing more DC films in the vein of Joker. That could be good news for how Todd Phillips originally sold Joker, which was pitched as the first entry in a DC Black division of DC movies. Warner Bros. Discovery could lead to its resurrection.
As part of Todd Phillips' initial pitch for Joker, it came with his broader idea of a DC Black subset that could co-exist alongside more straightforward DC movies. While full details on Phillips' proposal for DC Black aren't known, he revealed on a podcast (via IGN UK) that Joker was part of a three-movie pitch on his part. The other two were to have been helmed by other filmmakers, and Joker provides a good look at what Phillips might've intended.
Joker is a very different kind of story for the Clown Prince of Crime, giving an origin to a villain who typically lacks a definitive backstory or a real name. Phoenix's very tragic Arthur Fleck is driven insane by a lifetime of poverty and mistreatment, and his actions inspire Gotham City's lower class to rise up in revolt against the city's bourgeois.
