"People Are Starting To Notice" Joaquin Phoenix In Final 'Joker' Trailer

The final trailer for the forthcoming standalone Jokerfilm has finally arrived, and we now have a much fuller view at exactly how this villain came to be. Joaquin Phoenix is a depressed, down on his luck comedian whose day job as a clown-for-hire lends the aesthetic to his eventual maniacal turn.

Phoenix portrays Arthur Fleck, a man "struggling to find his way in Gotham's fractured society" and seemingly mistreated by everyone around him. In the description for the trailer, posted to YouTube, the studio adds, "Arthur, who devotes himself to caring for his fragile mother, seeks out every father figure he's never had, from wealthy businessman Thomas Wayne to TV host Murray Franklin. Caught in a cyclical existence teetering on the precipice of reality and madness, one bad decision brings about a chain reaction of escalating, ultimately deadly, events."

"This is the last time we'll be meeting," a social worker tells Fleck shortly into the trailer, and Fleck is none too pleased. "You don't listen, do you? You just ask the same questions every week," he replies. "How's your job? Are you having any negative thoughts? All I have are negative thoughts," he ominously concludes. As tensions run high through the city in a montage of clips, with large crowds beginning to similarly don his clown makeup and accessories, Fleck later narrates, "For my whole life I didn't know if I even really existed. But I do, and people are starting to notice."

Watch the final trailer also starring Zazie Beetz and Robert De Niro, below. Joker hits theaters on October 2.