Joaquin Phoenix is being tipped to play the DC villain in the upcoming film, although Leonardo DiCaprio has also been linked to the role

Further details about Todd Phillips and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming origin movie about The Joker have emerged, with the film set to reportedly depict the villain as a failed stand-up comic.

Phillips will direct the new DC and Warner Bros.-made film, with Scorsese acting as an executive producer. Joaquin Phoenix is the current favourite to play the titular villain, although Leonardo DiCaprio has also been linked to the famous role.

A new report from The Wrap has apparently shed light on some more details surrounding the forthcoming film, with Phillips set to depict Batman’s enemy as a failed 1980s stand-up comic “who becomes the clown prince of crime after bombing with audiences”.

This take on The Joker has origins in the 1988 DC graphic novel The Killing Joke, which was written by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.

The report also claims that The Joker movie will contain nods to Scorsese’s 1982 film The King of Comedy, which starred Robert De Niro.

The Joker was most recently portrayed by 30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto, who took on the role in Suicide Squad. It’s likely that he’ll reprise the role in that movie’s sequel, as well as the Joker/Harley Quinn film that is currently in development.