The forthcoming Joker film has found its Bruce Wayne.
According to ComicBook.com, the Todd Phillips-directed project has enlisted child actor Dante Pereira-Olson to play the young Master Bruce. Dante previously appeared in series like Happy!, Jessica Jones, and Mozart in the Jungle, as well as the 2017 film You Were Never Really Here, which was led by Joker’s titular star Joaquin Phoenix.
ComicBook.com also reports that Douglas Hodge (Red Sparrow and Black Mirror) has been cast as Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne’s family butler who ends up guiding Bruce in both child- and adulthood.
Dante, Hodge, and Phoenix will star alongside Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Bill Camp, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.
During an interview with Collider this summer, Phoenix opened up about the Warner Bros. project, insisting it would be unlike any other comic book movie.
“I wouldn’t quite classify this as like any genre. I wouldn’t say it’s a superhero movie, or a studio movie or a … It feels unique, and I think more than anything, and probably the most important thing, is Todd seems very passionate about it and very giving, and so that’s exciting,” the actor explained. “I think, underneath the excitement of these films, and the size of them, there are these incredible characters that are dealing with real life struggles. And sometimes that is uncovered and exposed, and sometimes it isn’t, and so I always felt, like, there were characters in comics that were really interesting and deserve the opportunity to be kind of studied. And so I think that’s what Todd sees appealing about this idea.”
The Joker film is expected to hit theaters Oct. 4, 2019.
