Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic (Getty)
Batman’s archenemy The Joker is one of the most iconic villains in comics history, in part due to how open to interpretation the character is. He can be as morbidly hilarious as he is sadistic and cunning. It’s no wonder that so many actors want to step up to try their own joy buzzer-strapped hands at the role. Voice actors like Mark Hamill, John DiMaggio and Troy Baker have joined live action movie stars like Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and Jared Leto to give it their best playing the Clown Prince of Crime.
However, there’s going to be a different kind of Joker if a certain actor has his way. And his name is… Tommy Wiseau?
Yes, you read that correctly. Tommy Wiseau. That Tommy Wiseau. THE Tommy Wiseau. The man who made The Room a hilariously awful yet somehow charming hit due to his horrendous acting and equally terrible script-writing. He wants to play The Joker, and if you ask us, we’re all for it. That could be amazing.
Before we get too ahead of ourselves though, we should probably explain where this is coming from. Tommy Wiseau recently tweeted at Todd Philips to “DM” him about the role:
Todd. DM me. https://t.co/DHYg3EXvhs
— Tommy Wiseau (@TommyWiseau) February 10, 2018
You might think that he was joking. Seems plausible. But then Wiseau proceeded to post this photo, and it became pretty clear that he wasn’t joking about being the Joker:
Yes ! I want to be THE JOKER !
Fan art by @aitesamfarooq02 pic.twitter.com/dteVXDikgm
— Tommy Wiseau (@TommyWiseau) February 11, 2018
That’s as specific an affirmation as we’re going to get. Just to reiterate one more time because of how absurd the notion is, Tommy freaking Wiseau is going on a public campaign to play The Joker in the upcoming Elseworlds origin story. If you think about it, this makes a weird sort of sense, specifically because of how nonsensical it is. The Joker is all about acting irrationally and throwing caution to the wind. He makes terrible decisions. He does things that any sane person would consider ridiculous at best (and incomprehensible at worst). And he does it all with an enthusiastic smile. That description applies to the Batman villain, but it easily applies to Wiseau, too.
As previously stated, this is an Elseworlds story. That makes it even more tempting to cast someone like Wiseau, since it doesn’t need to fit into the main DCU continuity. Now is the time to take silly risks and do weird things like put a so-bad-he’s-good actor like Wiseau into one of the most famous super villain roles of all time. It’s the perfect storm, and we want it to happen so badly! We would pay ALL of the money to see it happen officially. There’s even a fan-made trailer for how goofy it could be! Take a look:
If you can honestly say that you wouldn’t want it, then you might want to check to make sure you still have a pulse. Tommy Wiseau as The Joker would be the best thing ever, if only to hear the man utter the line, “You’re tearing me apart, Batman! Oh hi Robin,” in an official, DC-sanctioned movie. This has as much chance of happening as The Joker has of being permanently cured and reformed. But probability and logic are boring. We’d prefer taking things less seriously than that, looking at the unlikely with a smile.
So would Tommy Wiseau, apparently. Bless his heart.