Joker: Joaquin Phoenix Shouts Out to Heath Ledger During His SAG Awards Speech

Despite what some haters may say, it looks like Joker is raking in all the awards, and Joaquin Phoenix just won the SAG Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his work on the movie. During his acceptance speech, Phoenix took the time to commend everyone else that was nominated, as well as the last beloved actor for the Joker—Heath Ledger.

Check it out:

Phoenix goes so far to say that Ledger is his favorite actor in the speech, but he wasn't able to go in-depth as to why. If anything, it's a neat shout out. After all, it was probably Ledger's portrayal in The Dark Knight that was able to open doors for this gritty, dark take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Sorry, Jared Leto.

For now, it looks like the story of Phoenix's Joker is open and shut. After all, I think it ended perfectly the way it did, and any expansion to the story could lead to some very messy plotholes down the line. Of course, some people have been coming up with ways to go around it, but unless Phillips and Phoenix have something, it looks like a sequel is not coming anytime soon.

If you ask me, Jared Leto's Joker had a chance to be memorable. I mean, Suicide Squad was bad, but we know that Leto has the skill to pull off a memorable performance. Hopefully, WB will take him into consideration once they keep expanding the DCEU.

For now, the next film in the main timeline is Birds of Prey, and it comes out Feb. 7.

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