Since Heath Ledger set the bar pretty damn high for depictions of the iconic DC villain from the Batman series, the pressure has been on to match his intensity with a new Joker.

We won’t talk about the Suicide Squad trainwreck.

Jared Leto, you know what you did.

Part of what makes the Joker such an engaging character is the mystery around his origins. So naturally, people were pretty sceptical when it was announced that they would be making an origin story film starring Joaquin Phoenix.

The film is categorised as a psychological thriller that follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who is driven insane and turns to a life of crime in Gotham City.

Here’s the first trailer, which, at the time of writing, has been viewed 13 million times. The first 10 million views happened on the day of its release:

I’m going to reserve judgement until I’ve seen the full thing.

The film will be in cinemas on October 4, 2019.