It might be early days, but if critics' ratings on IMDB are anything to go by, the new Joker film is looking like it's going to be pretty special.

In fact, it's currently rated as the best comic book film of all time - even above this year's blockbuster Avengers: Endgame.

The movie is rated 9.7/10 on IMDb, putting it ahead of The Dark Knight (9.0/10), Endgame (8.5/10) and Infinity War (8.4/10).



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Of course, this score is likely to change as more people rate it, but it's a pretty good starting indication that it could be up there with the best.

Even on Rotten Tomatoes, it's maintaining a high score of 89 percent at present - another sign it's going to blow us away.

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker. Credit: Warner Bros

The new film has made waves already. It's a dark, standalone look into the life of Batman's nemesis, and uncovers the story of a man rejected by society and explores what made him into the seemingly heartless man familiar to Batman fans.

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The Dark Knight, in which The Joker was played by Heath Ledger, showed him as more of a multi-faceted character than we had seen before, but this Joker, depicted by Joaquin Phoenix, is so far looking next level.

In fact, Joker got a huge eight-minute-long standing ovation after it was premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, as reported by Variety.

The movie has already been a hit with critics, with some even suggesting Phoenix might earn himself an Oscar nomination.

Credit: Warner Bros

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A five-star review in Empire said the origin-story was 'bold, devastating and utterly beautiful'.

Adding: "Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have not just reimagined one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, but reimagined the comic book movie itself."

Director and writer Todd Phillips discussed the film with the audience, saying: "Why can't you do a genre comic book film like that? We thought this could be an exciting approach to this genre. I'm not sure what it means for DC or Marvel.

"It was a hard movie for us to get made, to convince DC and the studio at first, but we thought we would keep pushing because we thought it would be special."

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Perhaps unavoidably, Phoenix's role is being compared to Ledger's, but the actor has said he didn't take any inspiration from previous incarnations of the villain.

Phoenix said: "I didn't refer to any past iteration of the character. It just felt like something that was our creation in some ways."