The unexpected comic book movie blockbuster of 2019 was Todd Phillips’ Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the title role of Batman’s #1 nemesis. The movie earned a billion dollars at the box office and won Phoenix an Academy Award for his role as Arthur Fleck. No one saw all that coming for the relatively smaller budget and very adult-skewing R-rated film. But when you make that much money, a sequel is inevitable.
Lady Gaga revealed that her version of Harley Quinn would go by the name Lee. And Todd Phillips recently told Empire Magazine that Lee would be a fresh interpretation of the Harley we know so well. “While there are some things that people would find familiar in her, it’s really Gaga’s own interpretation, and Scott [Silver, co-writer] and I’s interpretation,” explains Phillips. “She became the way how [Charles] Manson had girls that idolised him. The way that sometimes these [imprisoned murderers] have people that look up to them. There are things about Harley in the movie that were taken from the comic books, but we took it and molded it to the way we wanted it to be.”
Here’s everything we know about the Joker sequel.
Title
Isn’t it beautiful?
— DC (@DCOfficial) October 3, 2023
Todd Phillips reminding us to rewatch Joker and get ready for #JokerFolieADeux pic.twitter.com/loJjviyiLI
The official title for Todd Phillips’ sequel to his 2019 blockbuster hit is officially Joker: Folie à Deux. Which means, in French, “Joker: Shared Madness.”
Joker: Folie à Deux‘s Plot
Right now, we know little of the plot for the Joker follow-up. Other than the fact that it will feature the Joker and Harley Quinn together. Considering how loosely the first film played with DC Comics’ mythos, don’t expect this one to be any different. They explored the origin of the Joker/Harley relationship in the classic Batman: The Animated Series episode “Mad Love,” and then translated (more or less faithfully) in the first Suicide Squad movie. We expect something a little more out of the box this time for Joker and Harley and we get it in the film’s trailer.
For those concerned, Peter Safran and James Gunn have assured fans the movie will remain in the DC Universe, though it will carry an Elseworlds project tag. That means it will live on, but it won’t work into the main timeline of the DC Universe.
Joker: Folie à Deux‘s Cast
Aside from the returning Joaquin Phoenix as Joker/Arthur Fleck, and Lady Gaga as Lee/Harley Quinn, only a handful of other actors have been confirmed thus far. Gaga shares “My version of Harley Quinn is ‘Lee,'” Gaga said. “In a lot of ways, I think this is going to be a very different Lee for people, and I’m excited for them to see the story we wanted to tell.”
Brendan Gleeson has also joined the cast, as has Catherine Keener in a “major” but still unknown role. Jacob Lofland has also joined up, as someone associated with Arkham Asylum. Also officially joining the cast is Industry‘s Harry Lawtey.
Behind the Scenes
Director Todd Phillips is reuniting with his original Joker co-writer Scott Silver for this new continuation.
Joker: Folie à Deux‘s Release Date
The Joker sequel is set to premiere on October 4, 2024.
Originally published on December 12, 2022.
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