The first image of Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker has been revealed, and he's not wearing any clown makeup

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• Director Todd Phillips released the first image of Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker.
• Phoenix is not wearing any makeup in the photo.
• Phillips captioned the image with one word: "Arthur."
• The film's plot is under wraps, but this image suggests that it will be a very deep origin story. 

"Joker," the upcoming standalone movie about Batman villain The Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix (not to be confused with the other standalone Joker movie with Jared Leto), has released its first image of the titular character.

It's not what anyone expected, because Phoenix is not wearing any clown makeup that makes the character so recognizable.

Director Todd Phillips shared the image on his Instagram account Sunday with the simple caption: "Arthur."

This suggests that the movie is an origin story that starts further back than we've ever seen The Joker on screen. This is Phillips' first comic-book movie. His previous credits include all three movies in "The Hangover" franchise, "War Dogs," and "Old School." 

"Joker" is expected to come to theaters in October 2019. Along with Phoenix, it stars Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, and Marc Maron.