Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, Robert Pattinson's Batman Won't Meet, Director Says

Joaquin Phoenix's Joker and Robert Pattinson's Batman won't ever meet on screen. Joker movie director Todd Phillips said in a recent interview that he doesn't foresee the characters interacting with each other in future movies.

"No, definitely not," he told Variety when asked about the possibility of the two iconic DC characters coming together.

At the Toronto International Film Festival this week, Phillips shared more insight. He reiterated that he does not think Phoenix's Joker exists in the same DC Universe as Pattinson's Batman.

"I don't see [Joker] connecting to anything in the future," he said. "This is just a movie."

Joker is a standalone origin story for the character, telling the story of how Arthur Fleck became the villainous Joker. Looking ahead, Phillips said his version of Joker is just one of the possibilities of storytelling for the famed bad guy. "In the states, comic books are our Shakespeare it seems, and you can do many many versions of Hamlet," Phillips told Variety. "There will be many more Jokers, I'm sure, in the future."

Also in the Variety interview, Phoenix revealed that he was initially apprehensive about playing Joker. But in the end, it turned out to be a career highlight for the three-time Oscar nominated actor.

"I mean honestly, it wasn’t an easy decision at first," Phoenix said. "I didn't f**king know. I didn't. But then there was something that was drawing me toward it. It just evolved as we worked together. It started becoming something more than I anticipated. It was one of the greatest experiences of my career."

Joker premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was shown again at the Toronto International Film Festival this week; it premieres in theatres on October 4. As for Pattinson's Batman movie, the Matt Reeves-directed film is scheduled to come to cinemas in 2021.

GameSpot's Joker review scored the comic book movie a 10/10. "It might make you uncomfortable, and it will no doubt stay with you long after the curtains close; great movies often do," reviewer Michael Rougeau said.