‘Joker’ Director: ‘The Far-Left Can Sound Like The Far-Right When It Suits Their Agenda’

Director Todd Phillips’ new DC film “Joker,” which tells the story of the iconic psychologically troubled villain’s spiral into murderous madness, has become the latest gun violence lightning rod, with gun control organizations demanding that Warner Bros. dedicate resources to promoting their agenda, while the film has been pummeled with preemptive outrage online for potentially inspiring “incel” extremists. The controversy turned even more heated this week amid reports of the U.S. Army issuing multiple warnings about threats of potential mass shootings in theaters when the film opens on October 4.

But Phillips, star Joaquin Phoenix, and Warner Bros. have been pushing back against those vilifying the film. Phoenix has maintained that it’s not an artist’s job to try to predict what will “trigger” a psychologically disturbed viewer, an argument Phillips has echoed. In an interview with TheWrap conducted Friday and published Wednesday, Phillips added a politically charged wrinkle to his defense of his highly anticipated and now highly criticized film.