'Joker' Met with 8-Minute Standing Ovation (and Plenty of Oscar Buzz) at Venice Premiere

Source: Warner Bros./Youtube

The Clown Prince storms Venice.

A month out from its nationwide debut, Todd Phillips' Joker is already commanding its share of rave reviews.

In fact, as the credits rolled on last night's Venice Film Festival premiere, Phillips' villainous origin story was met with an 8-minute standing ovation from the audience. According to Variety, Robert De Niro sat this one out, but co-stars Joaquin Phoenix and Zazie Beets were on-hand to see the crowd's uproar. The report also notes the theater was filled with critics who weren't shy with the praise. Venice artistic director, Alberto Barbera, was particularly vocal, exclaiming "Joker is headed straight to the Oscars."

WATCH: Joaquin Phoenix Goes Completely Mad in the Final Joker Trailer

Phoenix tells Variety his interpretation of Batman's moral counterpoint wasn't inspired by any previous incarnations of the villain, who was last portrayed by Jared Leto and the late Heath Ledger before that. "I didn’t refer to any past iteration of the character. It just felt like something that was our creation in some ways."

Joker hits theaters on October 4th as a standalone DC Comics feature. No capes, crusades, or bat costumes, will be seen.  The film's final trailer was released earlier this week. Watch it down below.