Stranger Things actor David Harbour is ready for his biggest role yet.
The actor, who hosted Saturday Night Live this week, spoofed the new Joker film with a fictional Oscar the Grouch origin story. In the hilarious trailer, Harbour portrayed a grumpy garbage man named Oscar who has increasingly become frustrated with Sesame Street and how bad it has become.
Harbour’s Joaquin Phoenix impression is pretty spot-on. The longtime Sesame Street resident is seen in therapy, dancing on the same stairs the Joker danced on in the actual film, and asking “if everyone calls you trash, if everyone treats you like trash, why don’t just become trash?”
With a creepy version of the Sesame Street theme song playing in the background, we can see the Oscar’s descent into madness. “Can you do me one favor? Can you call me the Grouch?” the afflicted character asks. Oscar’s infamous trash can is also featured prominently in the trailer.
Other Sesame Street regulars like Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, the Count, Cookie Monster and Elmo appear in the trailer, though they’re nothing like their characters in the children's series. Fans can watch a cursing Ernie get stabbed while Bert watches, the Count counting his pills, a homeless Cookie Monster, and Big Bird as a stripper.
Meanwhile, the actual Joker film is crushing expectations at the box office. The drama-thriller is projected to earn $58.7 million in its second weekend, blowing past initial expectations of $40 million.
With the success of the film, Joker director Todd Phillips said he’s open to a sequel if the right people are into it. "If he was willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and Warners came to us and said, 'You know what? If you guys could think of something,'" the directortoldTotal Film Magazine. "Well, I have a feeling that he and I could think of something pretty cool."
Watch the full faux trailer above.
