The People's Joker

Note: This film contains ephebophilia, suicidal imagery, and transphobia.

A queer reimagining of the Batman universe focused on the Joker's origin story. This autobiographical, coming-of-age film follows Joker the Harlequin, starting with her traumatic, closeted childhood and continuing to her journey of finding her identity in Gotham City. While she first went to Gotham City with a dream of joining the cast of UCB Live, the experience soon turns sour. With her new friend the Penguin, the two set out and create their own comedy space.

Originally intended to have a festival run in 2022, the film faced a setback when, before a midnight screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Drew received a letter from Warner Bros. Discovery. The letter impacted the film's release, as the Wired article "The Best Queer Batman Parody You Almost Never Saw" by Angela Watercutter notes how multiple news outlets misreported it as a much more serious cease-and-desist letter. As a result, the film faced difficulty obtaining a distributor, and led to a period of secret, theatrical screenings.

In 2024, the film gained a distributor, Altered Innocence, and received a larger, limited theatrical run, concluding with both streaming and physical media releases.