I absolutely loved it. The Joker origin has been attempted before in the comics (this draws a bit from the story that for some reason I'm blanking on its name). In that story, Joker was a struggling comedian who got in with the wrong crowd. His wife was killed and it set him over the age. I'm a huge Batman fan and collector, and it might have been Killing Joke, but I don't remember for certain as it has been ages since I read it (I should really re-read it).
Joaquin Phoenix really looks good so far. I'm excited for this one, big time.
While bosk's sentiment is understandable, and in some ways, I agree, if DCU is going to have a new Batman film (which they are, which concentrates on the detective aspect of Batman's character), they needed to re-cast the Joker in an appropriate way. Leto's LOOK is downright awful (although I think his portrayal may have been great had the look been right, because the acting was fine), and unpopular. And Gotham the TV show...that Joker and that whole series exists in a vacuum. So, they needed Batman's arch enemy if they were going to continue the Batman character. So this makes all sorts of sense.
If I remember right, The Batman is supposed to hit theaters in late 2020, and feature a younger Batman -- not an origin story, just the character in the early years of his career (fingers crossed for Robin). The last of the scripts have been delivered, and principal photography is supposed to start this fall. So we get The Joker in October 2019, and theoretically, probably The Batman for the holiday season in 2020.
I'm hoping if the first Joker film and the new Batman film go well, we get one after that, that incorporates the death of Robin at some point that draws off The Death in the Family arc. Its dated with the Saudi Arabia stuff, and campy, given the Joker was made a dignitary. However, I think the seeds of the arc (the Jason Todd Robin discovering he was adopted and his birth mother was still alive and goes searching for her) could lead to a creepy, disturbing tale of the Joker kidnapping her, and then killing Robin.
Anyway, I'm excited to wash away the awful screw ups of DCU regarding the Affleck version of Batman and the whole "let's do the same thing as MCU and try to catch up with them" mentality. This is a fresh start regarding the Batman franchise, and Joaquin Phoenix is a great choice to portray the Joker. REALLY looking forward to it. The trailer was great.
Hopefully the movie will follow suit.