The Joker film has been looking like it could be a really interesting, Elseworlds style take on Batman’s Clowned Prince Of Crime. It’s completely separate from the current DCEU. It looks like it is going to bring in a whole new vibe than we’ve seen in any DC film, and it has an insane cast. Before the latest announcement, we were already looking at a talent pool that includes Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker, as well as Robert De Niro, Zazie Beets, and Marc Maron. So what could possibly be so bad about bringing a talent like Alec Baldwin into the mix, especially when it is to play the man whose death will eventually inspire his son to become The Batman? Politics.
We don’t care about Alec Baldwin’s politics. Honestly, we don’t care about anyone’s politics until they affect the quality of the end product. One bit of information that has popped up over and over in the casting announcements through several media services is that Baldwin would be playing the role of Thomas Wayne as a billionaire who is similar to Donald Trump. This is not a good thing.
Baldwin’s biggest claim to fame in recent years has come from playing two rich men. First, he was Jack Jack Donaghy and more recently, he has been parodying Trump on Saturday Night Live. To cast him in a role where he is going to seriously play a role that he’s been essentially parodying for the last decade (between the two shows) is to invite all the worst elements of pop culture to turn the environment around the film completely toxic.
Regardless of which side you fall on, politically, using the names Trump and Alec Baldwin together for a film attached to one of the most beloved characters in all of fandom is a bad idea.