‘Joker’s Wild’, the Viral Batman Movie, Written and Directed by Yakima’s Aaron Bennett

Yakima is no small town by any means. We have a list of people many would consider celebrities who came from Yakima, both born and raised as well as those who spent many years in Yakima; long enough to call it home for a while.

Actors, authors, sports stars, and a lot more from Yakima.

What I'm getting at is just because you're from 'Yakima' doesn't mean you can't make it big.

One such person who's from Yakima had dreams to do more than just entertain the local scene, which he did for years with his local comedy troupe as well as on the radio.

Aaron Bennett seemed to have finally said 'I'm gonna do the thing!' (my quote, not his) and up and moved to Los Angeles to be closer to everything. He has done other projects along the way but his recent short film, Joker's Wild, certainly caught the eye of Batman fans around the world.

In such a short time this movie has already been viewed more than 400,000 times.

Speaking to Aaron Bennett about this project, here's what he said:

"David (Howard Thornton), Tatjana (Bluchel, Makeup/FX) and I wanted to embrace the comic book look of the 'Death In The Family' Joker and we think we did a good job of that.

I love that story and I wanted to adapt what I believe is the closest thing to horror that I had ever read in a comic when I was a kid. David is this generation's king of horror right now.

I needed to pay respects there, also. I wrote a script that incorporated all of those elements and shot it with our grip, lighting, and camera package. My team was excellent and it took me about two weeks to lock the edit and even with the LA fires we were able to get it up on YouTube for everyone to enjoy before the end of January.

We're sitting at 400k views and it's not showing any real chance at slowing down. We hoped for a big response so everyone could see how much David loved the character and he put 30 years of work into his performance.

If we had another shot we'd do some things differently, but we're very happy. Chris Bond, my cinematographer, did an outstanding job and we think it's something worth sharing... with adults. It's a little too violent for the kiddos.

You don't get David Howard Thornton, the guy who plays Art The Clown in the Terrifier movies and not throw in a little something for his fans. I think I would have been beaten in the streets!"

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And now, for your viewing pleasure, here is Joker's Wild written, produced, and directed by Aaron Bennett from Yakima.