The People’s Joker Has Broken Out of Film Jail

Joker: Folie à Who? We don’t know her. 2024’s most exciting and twisted Joker-based cinematic experience will be The People’s Joker, trans filmmaker Vera Drew’s independent take on Gotham’s most famous Juggalesque baddie. In an IP-driven movie landscape where you can’t swing a cat(woman) without hitting endless boardroom-approved iterations of the same comic-book characters, The People’s Joker does something radically fun and creative: It turns the Joker origin story into a trans coming-of-age take. Why so seri-cis? (Sorry.)

Drew, an Emmy-nominated editor and director who has worked extensively with Tim and Eric and on series like I Think You Should Leave and Comedy Bang! Bang!, crowdsourced the film’s funding as well as much of its effects and artwork, with over 100 mostly queer artists contributing to the project. Corporate entities like Warner Bros. and the DC Extended Universe have famous little chill toward this sort of unfocused group artistry, and screenings of The People’s Joker have been shut down and de facto banned across North America ever since the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2022.

On December 20, LGBTQ and coming-of-age independent film distributor Altered Innocence announced that the film will finally get a rollout nationwide. On April 5, the film will begin screening at IFC Center in New York City and expand from there. They’re calling it the “funniest, queerest, and wildest transgender coming-of-age parody film set in the Batman universe that also will make your momma cry.” Jared Leto could never (and dear God, should never)!

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