JOKER Recasts Brett Cullen as Batman's Father, Thomas Wayne

Looks like someone else will get to be murdered in Crime Alley instead.

ComicBook.com is reporting that Todd Phillips' upcoming Joker origin movie starring Joaquin Phoenix has recast Brett Cullen as DC Comics character Dr. Thomas Wayne, the father of Batman himself, Bruce Wayne.  In addition to Phoenix, Cullen joins a cast that includes Robery De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, and Frances Conroy.

Last month, Alec Baldwin was cast as Thomas Wayne, but shortly dropped out due to a scheduling conflict.  According to previous reports, this version of Thomas Wayne will depict him as "a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump."

Cullen, 62, has appeared in dozens of films, including The Dark Knight Rises as Congressman Byron Gilley, Ghost Rider as Barton Blaze, Apollo 13, Wyatt Earp, Red Dawn (2012), The Runaways, 42, and National Security.  His television appearances include episodes of Lost, The Incredible Hulk, Tales from the Crypt, M*A*S*H, V: The Series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Outer Limits (1998), Under the Dome, Castle, Ally McBeal, Walker, Texas Ranger, Once and Again, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Falcon Crest, Monk, CSI: Miami, NCIS, Desperate Housewives, The Young Riders, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, Private Practice, Ugly Betty, and Friday Night Lights.

Created in 1939 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, Thomas Wayne first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #33 as a gifted physician and philanthropist to Gotham City, who inherited the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne.  In the maxi-series Batman: The Long Halloween, a flashback revealed that Thomas Wayne saved the life of gangster Carmine Falcone.  Falcone's father, Vincent Falcone, came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot by rival gangster Luigi Maroni.  Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to the hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting.  After saving Carmine's life, he was offered a reward or favor, but refused to accept any form of payment.

One night, when exiting a movie theatre, Thomas and his wife Martha Wayne were murdered by a mugger named Joe Chill, right in front of their son Bruce. This tragedy shocked Gotham and led to Park Row, the street where the murders occurred, being labeled Crime Alley.  The Wayne murders were the main cause of much of the corruption and crime in Gotham City.  Once it became clear that even wealthy, important people could be murdered so easily, citizens began to lose faith in the police, and the police themselves started to lose faith in their importance, leading to corruption within the force.  More importantly, however, the murders deeply affected Bruce as a child, later serving as the motivation for Bruce to eventually to fight crime as the superhero Batman.

Cullen will be the sixth actor to portray Thomas Wayne on screen, after David Baxt in the 1989 film Batman, Michael Scranton in the film Batman Forever, Linus Roache in the film Batman Begins, Grayson McCouch in the Fox series Gotham, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Joker is currently expected to arrive in theaters on October 4, 2019.