Update: USA Today confirmed with Alec Baldwin that he's withdrawn from the role of Thomas Wayne in the Joker movie due to scheduling issues. The original story appears below.

Alec Baldwin refutes reports he's been cast in Todd Phillips' Joker movie as a Donald Trump-like character - but does so in a Trump-like way. In recent years, Warner Bros. has been building up their DC Comics shared cinematic universe, unofficially titled the DC Extended Universe, with the likes of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad. However, after some changes behind the scenes, Warner Bros' upcoming DC movie slate looks markedly different than when the universe was announced. One major change is Warner Bros. launching a new DC franchise that will take place separate from the main universe, to be titled DC Dark or DC Black. The first of these films arrives next year with Phillips' Joker.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, the film will follow a different big screen iteration of the character than the one portrayed by Jared Leto in Suicide Squad. With a 2019 release date already set by Warner Bros., Joker looks to start filming soon, and as such, is rounding out its cast. Robert de Niro, Marc Maron, Zazie Beetz and Alec Baldwin have reportedly joined the cast in various roles alongside Phoenix, but one actor has since refuted those reports.

Related: Theory: Joaquin Phoenix's Joker Is A Trump Version Of Batman

Baldwin was reportedly cast in Joker as Thomas Wayne, the father of Bruce Wayne. Of course, it's Bruce who later becomes Batman after witnessing the death of his mother, Martha, and father. Reports of Baldwin's casting indicated the character of Thomas would be "in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump." Now, however, Baldwin has seemingly refuted the reports of his casting on Twitter and/or that his character will be in the vein of the U.S. president. See Baldwin's tweet below.

On first glance, the tweet seems to be a fairly straightforward denial of the report concerning his casting, even though those reports came from reputable trades. It's also unclear, based on the wording of Baldwin's tweet, whether he's denying the entire report of his casting or specifically that his character will be a "Trump manque." Perhaps Baldwin is playing Thomas Wayne, but there's a different character that may be in the vein of Trump. When looking deeper into the tweet, Baldwin also uses the kind of tweet structure typical of President Trump, using capslock and periods to indicate emphasis. If that's the case and Baldwin is jokingly playing into the role he's reportedly been cast in, this tweet is less of a denial and more of a funny confirmation.

For now, it's unclear exactly what Baldwin is indicating with his tweet, but if we take it at face value it seems he may not be in Phillips' Joker movie after all. Still, with the film aiming for an October 2019 release date, production will need to get underway soon enough. Filming on Joker is reportedly set to begin next month and if that's the case, a full cast list will be made available. That will officially confirm once and for all who's set to appear alongside Phoenix's Clown Prince of Crime in Joker.

Next: Non-DCEU Elseworld Movies DC Should Make After Joker

Source: Alec Baldwin/Twitter

Update source: USA Today

Key Release Dates