HOLLYWOOD—Revealing that the upcoming reboot would provide a chance to explore the darkest aspects of the iconic character, producers announced Wednesday that filming had begun on an even bleaker Joker movie featuring the comic book villain as an elderly man struggling to care for his wife after she has a stroke. “We’re excited to give audiences the chance to see The Joker as they’ve never seen him before—washing, feeding, and caring for his longtime life partner after she suffers a massive brain hemorrhage in the film’s first act,” DC Films president Walter Hamada told reporters, noting that the studio believed longtime fans and newcomers alike would be captivated by the gritty realism of The Clown Prince Of Crime silently weeping in his small, squalid Gotham City apartment when he realizes his dwindling social security check won’t be enough to cover his wife’s medical bills. “We couldn’t have asked for a better Joker than Bruce Dern, who is bringing depth and pathos to the supervillain never before captured on film. Fans may never look at The Joker the same way again after they see his arthritic hands straining to dab blood away from his wife’s forehead after she slips in the bathtub. We’ve seen The Joker embrace chaos in numerous films, but they’ve never seen him forced to confront the chaos of his own life with a loved one who no longer recognizes his makeup-covered face.” Hamada added that the reboot would be followed by a new Batman film that finds the caped crusader serving time in Blackgate Penitentiary for helping working-class Gotham women get illegal abortions.

Advertisement