Martin Scorsese is reportedly in talks to produce an origin story film about Batman’s nemesis, The Joker.

The award-winning filmmaker is set to make his mark in the DC Universe with the new project, with a new actor expected to take over from Jared Leto in the lead role.

According to Deadline, the film will be directed by The Hangover’s Todd Phillip's and co-written by The Fighter’s Scott Silver.

The Scorsese-produced Batman spin-off is thought to be a completely different iteration to The Joker in the Suicide Squad films, in which Leto plays the depraved villain.

Deadline reports that the new film will be “gritty and grounded” with a “different actor, possibly younger” in the lead role.

The film will be set in the 1980s in Gotham City, described as a “hard-boiled crime drama” rather than a typical superhero movie.

The role of the joker has been inhabited by a number of actors over the years, including Jack Nicholson in 1989’s Batman and Heath Ledger in 2008’s The Dark Knight, for which he won a posthumous Oscar.

Leto appeared in an incarnation of the character in last year’s Suicide Squad, receiving mixed reviews for his portrayal.

Fans seemed divided over the news on Wednesday, with many saying that the very premise of a Joker original film “went against” what the character represents.

“A Joker origin movie goes against everything that makes the character interesting. This superhero largesse needs to stop,” one person wrote on Twitter.

Others seemed pleased that Leto wouldn’t be starring, with one film fan posting: “Okay I'm hopeful for the Joker movie. If they are casting a new joker and Scorsese is supposed to produce then all is not lost.”

Another wrote: “DiCaprio must be playing the joker? DiNero is his father? Where does Joe Pesci fit in?”