Joaquin Phoenix hasn’t been seen on the big screen since the 2015 Woody Allen drama “Irrational Man,” but he’s set for a busy 2018. Trailers for his forthcoming crime saga “You Were Never Really Here” and the biblical epic “Mary Magdalene” have already come out, and now the first clip promoting the biopic “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” has been released in advance of its debut later this month at the Sundance Film Festival.

Based on the quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan’s life, the dark comedy reunites Mr. Phoenix with the writer-director Gus Van Sant, who worked together on “To Die For” in 1995. The film represents the third teaming of Mr. Phoenix with “Her” co-star Rooney Mara, who plays the title role in “Mary Magdalene.”

The ensemble also includes a pair of actors who move easily between comedy and drama, Jonah Hill and Jack Black. The story focuses on Mr. Callahan’s efforts to stop drinking after becoming paralyzed in an alcohol-related automobile accident as well as his successful career drawing morbidly funny cartoons. (Mr. Callahan died in 2010 at the age of 59.)

The ebullient trailer features John Lennon’s 1970 song “Isolation,” with the poignant lyrics, “You’re just a human, a victim of the insane.”