DC’s efforts to reinvent themselves are paying off and the world bears witness as they come out of the shadows to claim their fourth Oscar win with Todd Phillips’ Joker.
Prior to its release, Joker had a lot of controversies surrounding it. With the rampant cases of shootings in the United States, it was feared that the movie with its violent themes would further encourage the despicable acts.
Also, it was the first time that an origin story about a villain was being told. The chances of commercial success were slim but DC chose to risk it all and took the plunge.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix brought his A-game to the project, taking the meaning of the word commitment to a whole new level as he almost went mad during shooting.
Upon its release, Joker got fairly mixed reviews but a lot of the fans who saw it hailed it as a work of genius. Even Shazam star Zachary Levi urged people to see it that it was a great movie.
Todd Phillip’s film went far beyond expectations, becoming the most successful R-rated movie of all time by grossing over $1 billion worldwide against a budget of $55 million.
Added to the above, Joker was nominated for 11 Oscars (after getting several nominations in other words and winning some of them), making it the leading film of the year at the ceremony.
At the 92nd Academy Awards which went down yesterday February 9, 2020, Joker won an Oscar for Best Original Score (for composer Hildur Gudnadottir) and Best Actor (for Joaquin Phoenix), becoming the fourth DC film to win an Oscar in a competitive category.
The other three DC movies that have won an Oscar are Tim Burton’s Batman (for Best Art Direction), Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (for Best Sound Editing and Best Supporting Actor), and David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (for Best Makeup and Hairstyling).
The most interesting thing about all four movies is that apart from the fact that they are all DC films, the character of the Joker is in all of them.
Jack Nicholson played the Joker in Batman, Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Jared Leto in Suicide Squad, and Joaquin Phoenix in Joker.
With the latest win, it shows that DC is being rewarded for their efforts. Those who have seen their latest feature Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn have praised it so the studio may be on a winning streak.
