Joker: How Old Arthur Fleck Is (Compared To Joaquin Phoenix)

Joker introduced a new version of the Clown Prince of Crime named Arthur Fleck and played by Joaquin Phoenix, but how old is Arthur during the events of the movie? The film industry has been dominated by superheroes for years now, but recently, studios have opted to show darker, and in some cases more realistic versions of them and their enemies. One of the most successful and praised examples of this is Todd Phillips’ Joker, which showed a completely different side to Batman’s most famous villain.

Joker focused on Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime in Gotham City after being constantly rejected by society. The movie addressed themes like mental health, gun control, and the media’s influence on society, and it was far from the villain from Batman’s universe that everyone knows. Joker was surrounded by controversy even before its release, but that only ended up contributing to its box office success, even if critics were divided on their opinions about it. Joker was nominated for many awards, with Joaquin Phoenix taking many of them for his performance as Arthur Fleck.

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Many details were purposedly left ambiguous in Joker – from more complex stuff like whether it was all in Arthur’s head or not, to the year it’s set in. Arthur’s age is also left unknown, as well as who his real parents are. However, there are some (very hidden) details that point at how old Arthur is during the events of Joker, which only make his story more tragic. First off, Joker is set in 1981, and it all takes place in the same year (except, maybe, the final scene). At one point, Arthur gets his mother’s records from the hospital, where it can be seen that she was involuntarily admitted at the age of 25 on November 2, 1952. Also in those records are some newspaper clippings that reveal Arthur was three years old when the authorities learned that his mother’s boyfriend abused them.

This puts Arthur’s birth year in 1948 or 1949, meaning that he was 32-33 years old during the events of Joker. As it happens in many other movies, the lead actor wasn’t the same age nor close to it when the movie was shot. Joaquin Phoenix was born in 1974, and he was 44 years old when Joker began filming in 2018. Phoenix lost a lot of weight in preparation to play Arthur Fleck, which made him look older than he is but also gave the character the appearance they were looking for, reflecting his health issues and also giving him a creepier vibe. The Joker’s age changes depending on the version of the character – for example, in Batman: The Animated Series, he’s 44 years old, but in some stories in the comics, he has been portrayed as being in his late 50’s, so it’s not surprising that the movie went for a younger portrayal.

Joaquin Phoenix’s age was no impediment for him to play a 32-33 year old Arthur Fleck in Joker, and it helped a lot that this and many other details were left unknown or ambiguous by Todd Phillips and company. If Joker 2 is to happen, it’s going to be interesting to see when it’s going to take place and if it will future a more mature Joker, maybe even closer to Phoenix’s age.

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