With the final trailer for the Joaquin Phoenix Joker movie now out, this is the perfect time to reevaluate the Martin Scorsese film The King of Comedy, which was reportedly a major influence on this adaptation of the DC character. Joker is heading to theaters on October 4, but first it heads to the Venice Film Festival this week where we'll hear the first reactions from critics about this latest iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime.

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Watch the new trailer here, and then read our updated piece on The King of Comedy and its possible Joker connections.

Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy

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The Many Origin Stories of the Joker 22 IMAGES

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If you’re excited about the Joker origin movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, you have some homework to do. The new film reportedly takes its inspiration from a cult classic Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro movie which was largely overlooked in its time, but was eventually reevaluated, and is now considered one of the most acidic motion pictures about the entertainment industry ever filmed. The movie is called The King of Comedy, and it’s only one step removed from “The Clown Prince of Crime.”It’s pretty ironic that the most popular supervillain in the world is the Joker. At least, if you believe his origin stories. The failed comic who lost his mind and became an agent of total chaos has risen through the (very impressive) ranks to become Batman’s greatest nemesis, and has in the decades that followed his creation been played by celebrated actors like Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, Heath Ledger (who won an Oscar for his performance) and Jared Leto.The Joker is a success story, but the stand-up comedian who transformed into the Joker was not. It’s that character arc that reportedly drives the new Joker origin movie, directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover), which stars Joaquin Phoenix as a failed comedian who turns to crime. Robert De Niro has a role as a talk show host who plays a pivotal role in that evolution.The casting of De Niro is no coincidence as he starred in The King of Comedy as Rupert Pupkin, a stand-up comic who lives in his mother’s basement and spends his days stalking a successful talk show host named Jerry Langford. Comedy legend Jerry Lewis plays Langford, and gives what some consider to be a relatively autobiographical performance as a celebrity who puts up with a heck of a lot from his overzealous fans.The movie begins when Rupert steals a few minutes of Langford’s time, after saving him from another, more overtly frightening fan. Jerry politely gives Rupert a little career advice, and when Rupert asks if Jerry could take a look at his stuff, Jerry - desperate to placate this man and move on with his own life - tells Rupert to contact his secretary.It’s a pretty big win for a very little guy. But instead of putting some material together, mailing it to Jerry’s office and hoping for the best, Rupert gets it into his head that a few polite words from Jerry makes them new best friends. It’s only a matter of time before Jerry invites Rupert on television, even though Rupert has - as near as we can tell - never even performed in front of an audience before. Rupert keeps going to Jerry’s office, and everyone is very polite until Rupert pushes his luck and gets shoved out the door.The King of Comedy escalates into a scheme that the Joker would be proud of. Rupert teams up with another stalker he knows, Masha (Sandra Bernhard, delivering a proto-Harley Quinn performance). They kidnap Jerry and tell the studio that if they don’t give Rupert a spot on tonight’s show, they’ll kill Langford. While Rupert goes off to have his 15 minutes of fame, he leaves a helpless Jerry with Masha, who begins to indulge in her own creepy fantasies.It’s not a big stretch to remake The King of Comedy, directly, with the Joker in the lead role. It’s the story of a man who can no longer tell fantasy from reality, whose delusions have disturbing consequences. And although director Martin Scorsese knows that Pupkin is a terrifying person, he and De Niro never lose sight of the fact that his actions are the result of a tragically disturbed mind. Pupkin’s comedy routine, which we finally see at the end of the film, is a litany of tragic abuses he suffered as a child, filtered through a mind that is desperate to share them with the world and to say that, in the end, all that horror was hilarious.In the new Joker movie, the villain is named Arthur Fleck, and he’s played by an actor who famously evokes sympathy for unsympathetic individuals. Joaquin Phoenix earned an Oscar nomination for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master for playing another smashed soul, burned out from World War II, who develops an uncomfortable connection to a charismatic charlatan selling a cult-like new religion. It seems like smart casting, considering what Philips is said to be going for.What’s more, the story of The King of Comedy - and now, potentially, the Joker - has only become more relevant as the entertainment industry has evolved. With the invention of social media, fans now have a closer connection to their celebrity icons and crushes than ever before. Scorsese’s film was already about the dangers of having a one-sided relationship with an entertainer, projecting onto them a personality and a connection which offers personal comfort but has no relation to reality. When reality comes crashing in, Rupert Pupkin pulls out every trick in the book to make other people indulge in his delusions.And really, that’s what the Joker has always been about. The Joker has a point of view that sees everything, even crime (and depending on the interpretation of the character, even monstrously violent crimes), as hilarious. He shares his viewpoint with the world and the world responds with terror, but the Joker keeps trying anyway. Even the villain’s relationship with Batman often comes across as Pupkin-esque, since in many versions he seems legitimately obsessed with Batman, and with breaking the hero’s detached façade, making him see the world the way the Joker sees it… or at least making him laugh.Time will tell whether the new Joker movie merely alludes to The King of Comedy or if the latter film is a pervasive inspiration. (It certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Joker took inspiration from a movie; the character was originally modeled after Conrad Veidt’s iconic performance in the silent horror thriller The Man Who Laughs.) But if you want to see a film that the Joker would probably love - and one of Martin Scorsese’s finest films, while we’re at it - you should definitely check out The King of Comedy. It’s a killer.