Weird Psychedelic Trailer for Gender-Bent Indie Superhero Parody Film THE PEOPLE'S JOKER

A weird-ass trailer has been released for the superhero parody movie, The People’s Joker, directed by Vera Drew, who co-wrote the film with Bri LeRose. Drew also stars as Joker the Harlequin in the movie, and is joined by co-stars Lynn Downey, Nathan Faustyn, Kane Distler, David Liebe Hart, Griffin Kramer, Christian Calloway, Ember Knight, Dan Curry, Cricket Arrison, Eliot Glazer, Sandy Honig, Alec Robbins, Mia Moore Marchant, Phil Braun, Trevor Drinkwater, Daniella Baker, Bambi Bell, Denali Winter, Ruin Carroll, and Arden Hughes. Tim Heidecker, Bob Odenkirk, Maria Bamford, and Scott Aukerman also make cameos in the movie.

The synopsis reads:

“In the absurdist autobiographically-inspired dark comedy that boldly reimagines the Joker’s origin, a painfully unfunny aspiring clown (Vera Drew as Joker the Harlequin) grapples with her gender identity while unsuccessfully attempting to join the ranks of Gotham City’s sole comedy program in a world where comedy has been outlawed. Uniting with a ragtag team of rejects and misfits, Joker the Harlequin forms an illegal anti-comedy troupe that puts her on a collision course with the devious caped crusader controlling the city.”

This looks really weird! Ahead of the film’s Toronto International Film Festival premiere last fall, Drew received a letter from Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns the film rights to Batman, asking her not to show the project publicly. The letter effectively scuttled other planned screenings, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Drew has stated that that her usage of the Batman universe and its characters falls within the bounds of the fair use, which protects the use of copyrighted material for purposes such as parody and criticism. As THR noted, the film was eventually screened at additional festivals without issue from Warners; however, gaining theatrical distribution always seemed to be an uncertain prospect.

Now, the film is finally headed to theaters, with a release at the IFC Center in New York City on April 5, 2024. It will then expand to cities such as Los Angeles, Austin, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, and Chicago in the following weeks. Theatrical listings can be found by clicking here.

You can check out the trailer below: