Movies

With Edgy ‘Joker,’ Warner Bros. Punches Back at Marvel’s Might

Director Todd Phillips delivers a violent tale of Gotham City’s most-famous psychopath

Joaquin Phoenix stars as the Joker.

Source: Warner Bros. 

With the new “Joker” movie opening this weekend, Warner Bros. is making its DC Comics franchise decidedly un-Disney.

The R-rated film is bloody and violent — enough to spark protests from some quarters — and makes it clear that Warner Bros. is no longer just copying Walt Disney Co.’s successful Marvel unit, which built a body of 23 superhero films by tying its biggest comic-book characters together. Instead, the film division of AT&T Inc. has decided to focus on a series of discrete movies , letting the story and director set the course.