Joker: Is Robert De Niro 'being lined-up' for Joker origin movie? Could he be Falcone?

Fans suspect the Joker origin movie will detail the story of how a failed comedian became the psychotic clown known as the Joker, a criminal infamous in Gotham.

The Joker origin story takes place outside of the DC Comics lore and separately from the DC’s extended universe movies.

The DCEU movies include the Suicide Squad timeline created by David Ayer, as well as Justice League and Ben Affleck-Bat Man movies.

Is Robert De Niro being lined up for the Joker origin movie?

Yes, according to That Hashtag Show.

JOKER MOVIE: HAS THE JOAQUIN PHOENIX ‘JOKER’ ORIGIN MOVIE JUST BEEN GIVEN A WORKING TITLE?

While De Niro might not be everyone’s first pick to star in a comic book movie, it actually makes sense when you learn Martin Scorcese is listed as the executive producer of the Joker origin movie.

The Joker origin movie is said to be inspired by the Killing Joke comic written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland, and the work of Martin Scorcese.

The Joker stand-alone movie is rumoured to take place in the 1980s and will be more of a Martin Scorsese crime saga movie, rather than a typical superhero movie.

The THR show said: “Scorsese and De Niro have been frequent collaborators since 1973’s Mean Streets, with iconic films such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Cape Fear and Casino on their shared resumes.”

The Joker character De Niro is tapped to play is named Murray Franklin, and the only details released so far are he’s Male (65-75) and Caucasian.

Fans want to know who Murray Franklin is, and the answer seems to be: anyone.

Given the Joker origin movie will most likely exist outside the DCEU, it’s possible Murray could be a pseudonym for Carmine Falcone.

Or Murray could be an amalgamation of villains or a totally new criminal with a more insidious and villainous role.

Of course, there has been no confirmation De Niro is interested in the Joker origin movie at all.

Falcone appears in the comics as a Mafia boss nicknamed The Roman who has a stronghold over Gotham City’s organized crime syndicate.

Whoever De Niro ends up playing if he even ends up in the movie its likely to be a villain given the rest of the leaked character descriptions.

Other characters, via That Hashtag Show, include:

Penny: Supporting female (60-74), Caucasian. Lower class, very attractive in her younger days, still feels that way about herself. But recently her health has started failing, and she’s nearly bedridden in her Lower East Side apartment which she shares with her grown son who just moved back home. She’s obsessed with her former employer and can’t believe that this is what her life has come to, that she has ended up here, like this.

Sophie Dumond: Supporting female (27-34), to play African American or to play Latina. Not beautiful, has a hardness to her, a single mother living on the Lower East Side, doing the best she can, trying to make ends meet; worn out by the grind of the city. She understands how the system is stacked against her and the people in her community, how unjust it all is for them. She’s just trying to catch a break.

Randall: Supporting male (40-59), Caucasian. Thinks he’s the wisest and most knowledgeable person in any room he’s in tries to present himself as a mentor to everybody but is really just looking out for himself, burly.

Gary: Supporting male (30-49), any ethnicity to play a dwarf. Randall’s best friend, he’s good-natured and a buddy to his colleagues at work, one of the only decent people in the whole movie.

Hoyt Vaughn: Supporting male (50-69), any ethnicity. The old-school manager of hotel staff. He’s seen it all and finds it difficult to give a sh*t about much of anything anymore.

Detective Garrity: Supporting male (50-59), any ethnicity. Police Detective in a city on the brink; a by-the-book cop, worn down by all his years on the force. He doesn’t care about or take into consideration any of the societal or political ramifications of his cases.

Detective Burke: Supporting male (30-39), any ethnicity. A Police Detective and Garrity’s partner; he’s an a**hole, who gets off by being in a position of authority. Being a cop is how he defines himself.