The Joker origin story will be "super dark and real".

Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese is set to produce the origins movie and will be joined on the production team by 'The Hangover' helmer Todd Phillips, who is in line to direct the motion picture and co-write a script alongside '8 Mile' scribe Scott Silver, and Phillips has described the film as a "dark Joker".

Phillips appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and said: "It's dark. It's like a dark Joker. As a kid, he had a permanent smile and everyone made fun of him. It's like on the streets of Brooklyn. It's super-dark and real."

According to Deadline, Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films are in the early stages of putting the film together and it will be the first movie under a new banner which is yet to have been given a name.

While plot details are yet to be revealed, The Joker's origin story is said to be different than any other iteration of the popular villain.

Jared Leto is set to reprise his role as the character in the upcoming film based around his character and his lover Harley Quinn - both of whom were first introduced in the DC Extended Universe in 'Suicide Squad' - but he is not due to play the part in the Joker origin tale as the studio needs a younger actor.

The Joker has been the most represented Batman villain on the big screen.

Jack Nicholson portrayed the Clown Prince of Crime in the 1989 film 'Batman' helmed by Tim Burton earning himself a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, whilst the late great Heath Ledger took on the villain in the 2008 film 'The Dark Knight', a performance which won him a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar.