YouTubeWarner Bros. dropped its first teaser trailer for Joker on Wednesday—giving fans a sneak peek at Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of the iconic villain.
Movie lovers have been anxiously awaiting the teaser, especially after the studio released a chilling poster for the film on Tuesday. Todd Phillips, the director of the film, also gave fans a glimpse of the trailer a day early at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
Joker tells the origin story of the famous Gotham character. However, this was likely easier said than done, especially since Phillips said Arthur, the man who turns into the Joker, doesn't have much of a background.
"When the marketing department at Warners asked me the other day to describe the movie, I said 'I can't,'" he told CinemaCon attendees, per The Hollywood Reporter. "They said at least tell us the genre, and I thought about it for a minute and said, 'It's a tragedy.'"
Phoenix isn't the first actor to play the Joker. Jared Leto played the character in the 2016 film Suicide Squad. Heath Ledger also played the villain in the 2008 film The Dark Knight, and Jack Nicholson took on the role for the 1989 film Batman. In addition, Cesar Romero played the Joker in both the 1966 film Batman: The Movie and Batman the TV series. Mark Hamill also played the character in Batman: The Animated Series and several other animated projects.
Watch the video to see the trailer. The film hits theaters Oct. 4.