A new piece of fan artwork imagines what Johnny Depp could look like as the Joker. The Joker is of course Batman’s most notorious villain, as well as one of the most well-known villains in general. While the Joker made his comic book debut in 1940, it wouldn’t be until 1966 that the character appeared on screen when Cesar Romero played the Joker in the ’60s Batman series. Several other actors have played Joker over the years in live-action movies, including Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, and Joaquin Phoenix.
While the above actors have become known for playing the Clown Prince of Crime, Johnny Depp has had a diverse acting career by playing a number of memorable characters. Depp started his acting career by playing Glen Lantz in A Nightmare on Elm Street, but is now known for characters like Edward Scissor Hands, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Sweeney Todd. Depp also played the villain in the Fantastic Beasts series: Gellert Grindelwald. Harry Potter is no doubt one of the biggest franchise Depp has acted in, but he has yet to appear in a superhero movie. Now, after rumors that Depp might play the Joker in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, one fan has imagined what the actor could look like as Batman’s arch-enemy.
A new piece of artwork from death.streak_art envisions how Depp could look as the Joker. Recent live-action versions of the Joker have strayed away from his comic appearance. This artwork shows Depp in the classic Joker garb, sporting a purple suit, green hair, and white face paint. Death .streak_art’s work can be seen below.
While Phoenix is the current Joker, Todd Phillips’ film is believed to be a standalone movie that doesn’t connect to the DCEU. It’s been rumored that Phoenix could be the Joker to Robert Pattinson’s Batman, but Phillips has refuted those claims. If Reeves’ The Batman ends up being successful at the box office and with fans, a sequel will inevitably happen, which could include the Joker. At this point however, The Batman is already jam-packed with villains with Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, and Zoë Kravitz playing the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman respectively.
Even though Depp likely won’t appear in The Batman as Joker, it’s fun to imagine what he could look like in a sequel. Given the caliber of Depp’s acting, having him play the Joker in a DC film would be a big score for Warner Bros. Marvel had already tried to get Depp to join the MCU in the role of Doctor Strange, but Warner Bros. might have a better chance of scoring Depp for a superhero movie given their current working relationship with the actor on the Fantastic Beasts films. For now though, fans will just have to enjoy fan artwork like the one above and see if anything comes of the rumors.
Source: death.streak_art