Brett Cullen to play Thomas Wayne in Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Although Alec Baldwin was (briefly) set to play Thomas Wayne in JOKER, the actor dropped out last month leaving Warner Bros. searching for a replacement, and it seems that they've found one in Brett Cullen. Chances are that you'll recognize the actor as he's appeared in quite a number of projects over his long career, including TV shows such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Desperate Housewives, The West Wing, Lost, Ugly Betty, Friday Night Lights, Person of Interest, Devious Maids, Under the Dome, and Narcos, as well as movies like APOLLO 13, GHOST RIDER, THE SHALLOWS, and THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

According to ComicBook.com, the Thomas Wayne we'll meet in JOKER won't be exactly as we remember as Brett Cullen's "version of the character is expected to be a less friendly iteration, playing a role in the Joker's origin story in one way or another." When Alec Baldwin was attached to the role, it was said that Thomas Wayne would be "a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump." Production on JOKER recently got underway in New York City and director Todd Phillips shared our first official look at Joaquin Phoenix in the title role over the weekend. In addition to Joaquin Phoenix, JOKER will also star Robert De Niro as a talk show host who is somehow instrumental in the Joker’s origin, Marc Maron as an agent on De Niro’s talk show who plays a part in booking Phoenix’s character, Frances Conroy as the Joker's mother, and Zazie Beetz as a single mother who catches the interest of the man who will become the Clown Prince of Crime. Phoenix has previously said that the project feels "unique" to other comic-book movies. "It is its own world in some ways, and maybe, mostly, it scares the f**king shit out of me or something," Phoenix said. "It might as well be the thing that scares you the most."

JOKER will hit theaters on October 4, 2019.