From his very first appearance in 1940’s Batman #1, the Joker has been an evil genius, a man whose madness allowed him to concoct plans that no one could anticipate. But the most recent Oscar-winning version of the character (and it’s weird to realize there’s more than one!) couldn’t be more different from that idea. Todd Phillips, director and writer (with Scott Silver) of 2019’s Joker, and maestro of the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, recently went so far as to explain the difference between Arthur Fleck, the character he and Joaquin Phoenix have developed for the screen, and the classical image of Batman’s arch-nemesis.

Whereas nearly every other Joker has been fairly described as “the Clown Prince of Crime,” Phillips told Empire magazine that “we would never do that… Because Arthur clearly is not a criminal mastermind. He was never that.” As portrayed by Phoenix, Arthur...