Main image via Cheat Sheet + Looper
After returning to his role of Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home, there's definitely newfound hype surrounding actor Willem Dafoe. Even before his comeback as the green meanie was confirmed, fans began to wonder if Willem would play another comic book villain —The Joker.
In an interview with GQ, the 66-year-old actor was asked whether he prefers to play evil characters in superhero movies.
“I don’t know what that is. I’ll play dumb. You play characters. I could say, ‘Oh yeah, it's fun to play villains ’cause you can do things that you can't do in life, or it's fun to play with your dark side’. But I don't know. I'm not thinking about those things.”
Willem hasn't exactly imagined himself playing the Joker – but he does have an idea about playing a fake version of the Clown Prince of Crime alongside Joaquin Phoenix.
via GIPHY
‘There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter. So it would be possible to have not dueling Jokers but someone that says to be the Joker that isn’t the Joker,’ he said.
‘And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did. I fantasized about that. But other than that I am not talking to anybody [about it], you’re the first one.’ he added.
Since Joker was released in 2019, there's been the question of whether or not it could get a sequel. However, rumors have been going around that Joaquin and director/co-writer Todd Phillips could be lined up to return.
‘I think they’re just giving us time, and if we can figure it out, and if Joaquin’s down to do it, we would do it. But we haven’t gotten near that yet,’ Todd said earlier, as reported by Unilad.
via GIPHY
We can say that Willem Dafoe is among the greatest actors of the 21st century, who has proven his ability to work in both blockbusters and big films such as At Eternity’s Gate, The Lighthouse, The Florida Project and of course, the OG Spider-Man trilogy.
His performance as the Green Goblin was so great that he reprised the role for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Considering his part involved a lot of maniacal laughter and evil game plans, he does seem the perfect fit to play the Joker, real or fake.
via GIPHY
Matt Reeves is reportedly creating a Gotham City disconnected from the main DCEU for The Batman, featuring an all-star cast of actors. Fans have been theorizing about who might show up in a possible sequel, leading to epic fan art of Willem as the Clown Prince of Crime.
We mean, how cool is that? You can’t deny that Willem Dafoe looks awesome as Joker. And given his previous experience in comic book projects like Spider-Man and Aquaman, he seems like the perfect actor to take on the mantle of the iconic villain. We’ll just have to see if Matt Reeves has plans to bring Mr. J to The Batman’s sequel or developing spinoffs.
Do you think Willem would make a good Joker? Let us know!
Info via Unilad + GQ + Screen Rant