By James White | Posted 23 Jul 2018

While Martin Scorsese's name floated around as a producer in the earlier days of Todd Phillips' Joker origin story pic Joker, there's not much talk of him currently. But one of his most famous collaborators is looking likely to join the cast, as Robert De Niro is now in talks.

With Joaquin Phoenix playing the central figure for a grimy, street-level, lower budget feature that aims to be a character story of someone becomes the Crown Prince of Crime, Phillips has been busy locking in the ensemble around, and has Zazie Beetz already making a deal.

If everything goes to plan, De Niro would be a talk show host who has a formative impact on Phoenix's character, though The Hollywood Reporter has heard he's not a villain. From the sounds of Phillips and Scott Silver's script, there will be many more shades of grey than your average pow-whack superhero movie. And, as you might expect, this won't be part of the DCEU, arriving under its own label. In addition to De Niro, The Wrap reports that Frances Conroy is now in talks to play Penny, the mother to Phoenix's character.

Phillips will kick off shooting in the autumn. De Niro, meanwhile, will appear once again for Scorsese in The Irishman, due on Netflix next year.

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