Following a legendary performance in Spiderman: No Way Home, Willem Dafoe recently opened up in a GQ Interview as to which role he wishes to play next. The "Green Goblin" actor wants to portray another villain---this time, in the DC universe.
Dafoe reveals he would love to act alongside Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker, one of the most infamous villains of all time. Dafoe claims he would not want to usurp Phoenix, as he has incredible respect for him as an actor, but that the idea of multiple Jokers might lead to an interesting story.
"There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter. So it would be possible to have not dueling Jokers, but someone that says to be the Joker that isn’t the Joker. And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did."
Fans have been reminded of the three-issue series put out by DC in 2020, Three Jokers. The story follows Batman as he tries to solve several crimes committed by his foe, The Joker, all seemingly at the same time. This gives way to the possibility that there may, in fact, be more than one Joker.
The story was a hit with both critics and audiences, and while DC has a spotty track record of live action adaptations, Dafoe's desires leave room for hope among fans. Could he be cast for future Batman projects, perhaps a Three Jokers movie? Nothing's impossible. But as of now, it's all wishful thinking, with Dafoe stating,
“I fantasized about that. But other than that I am not talking to anybody."
He also commented on his apparent trend of portraying villains, joking,
"You play characters. I could say, ‘Oh yeah, it’s fun to play villains ’cause you can do things that you can’t do in life, or it’s fun to play with your dark side.’ But I don’t know. I’m not thinking about those things."
