Willem Dafoe Pitches Playing a “Joker Imposter” Opposite Joaquin Phoenix

Some would argue Willem Dafoe exceeded his original appearance as Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The actor's performance has led many to believe Dafoe would be a great Joker - and it's a role Dafoe is definitely interested in playing.

Dafoe spoke to GQ Magazine about his idea for a Joker movie, which would also involve Joaquin Phoenix's iteration.

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Willem Dafoe Pitches Playing a “Joker Imposter” Opposite Joaquin Phoenix

Dafoe's idea would involve two Jokers. One would be Phoenix's version, while the other will be an imposter played by the Green Goblin himself.

There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter. So it would be possible to have not dueling Jokers but someone that [claims] to be the Joker that isn't the Joker.

Dafoe further explained his vision and said the two fiends would be imitating and trying to one-up each other:

And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did. I fantasized about that.

The idea certainly goes in line with the 2019 film's psychological analysis of Arthur Fleck, and exploring Phoenix's influence on regular people and the eventual creation of another Joker has plenty of interesting possibilities.

Dafoe also highlighted his affinity for playing villains, mainly that portraying bad characters is somewhat "fun":

I don’t know what that is. I’ll play dumb. You play characters. I could say, ‘Oh yeah, it's fun to play villains ’cause you can do things that you can't do in life, or it's fun to play with your dark side’. But I don't know. I'm not thinking about those things.

Joker 2 was immediately greenlit following its billion-dollar box office tally and an Oscar win for Phoenix. Details regarding its development have remained minute but, Dafoe's tale could certainly be a possible premise for the sequel.