A Different Kind of Joke: Zach Cregger's Gotham Gambit
The thing about Gotham is—it never stays quiet for long.
And this week, the buzz in the back alleys and blood-soaked corridors of the DC Universe got louder. According to insider Daniel Richtman, Barbarian director Zach Cregger is gearing up to pitch a Joker-verse film to James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU. A fresh, chaotic tale set in Gotham's twisted psyche. One written years ago, by Cregger himself, before Weapons, before the Resident Evil reboot, back when he described the script as “the best thing I've ever written.”
That was in 2022. Back then, he hadn't even met with Warner Bros.
Now, in mid-2025? That door might be cracking open.
A Joker Film Without the Joker in the Spotlight?
Here's where it gets intriguing—because this isn't just another Joker origin redux. According to Nexus Point News, the Cregger script doesn't revolve solely around the Clown Prince of Crime. Instead, it reportedly centers on one of Joker's henchmen. A co-lead. A nobody. One of those background guys who gets slapped around in an alley or shot in the chest during a chemical plant heist.
That's… smart.
Because let's be honest—the Joker's been doing a lot lately. Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, hit theaters on October 4, 2024, and despite all the anticipation, it stumbled at the box office. Critics were split. Audiences? Even more so. It was grand, ambitious, weirdly operatic—but it also felt like a final note. Like we needed a break.
So, what if instead of another big Joker showcase, we explored the wreckage he leaves behind?
What if we followed the guy who has to live with what the Joker did to him?
Cregger's Trajectory: Barbarian, Weapons… Gotham?
Zach Cregger didn't just crash into horror with Barbarian—he nuked the whole template. That movie was messy, brutal, and structurally insane. It also grossed over $45 million on a shoestring budget and made him the new genre guy everyone suddenly wanted.
Now he's finishing Weapons, his ambitious horror follow-up, which wrapped earlier this year and is rumored to premiere at one of the major fall festivals (TIFF or Fantastic Fest would be my bet). He's also locked in to direct a Resident Evil reboot for Sony this September.
And after that? Nothing confirmed. No greenlights. No next-big-thing.
So a meeting with James Gunn? It makes too much sense.
Cregger has the off-kilter voice Gunn loves. The dark comedy, the unease, the human stain underneath the genre paint. If DC wants a Gotham that doesn't feel like every other Gotham we've seen—he's their guy.
And Gunn knows a thing or two about taking misfits and turning them into legends. (Peacemaker, anyone?)
But… Another Joker?
Here's where the brakes screech a little.
The Joker isn't Batman. He doesn't need a million reinterpretations. He works best in scarcity—in flashes. Ledger's Joker didn't need a backstory. Phoenix's Joker gave us too much of one.
Cregger, if he's smart (and he is), will keep Joker in the shadows. Let him haunt the frame. Make the henchman the lens. Let us see Gotham's sickness from the gutter, not the throne.
Because that's the trick. Joker stories don't work when they're about the Joker.
They work when they're about us—and how close we are to becoming the punchline.
Final Thought: Wait for Weapons
I'm cautiously optimistic. I liked Barbarian, even if the final act started eating its own tail. It had voice. It had guts. It felt like it was made by someone who had been itching to do something different.
If Weapons proves Cregger isn't a one-hit wonder, and if the Joker film actually gets pitched—and that's still a big if—then we might be looking at the next great Gotham story.
But if not? Maybe that's okay too. Maybe Gotham, for once, can sit in the silence.
But probably not.
Would you want a Joker-verse film through the eyes of a henchman? Or has the Clown Prince of Crime overstayed his welcome? Drop your take in the comments. Or just send me a GIF of someone falling into a vat of acid. Both are valid.
