There are valid concerns about a sequel to 2019’s Joker, but Todd Phillips will hopefully prove the biggest Joker: Folie à Deux doubts wrong.
There are many potential challenges facing Joker: Folie à Deux, but Todd Phillips’ 2024 sequel will hopefully avoid them completely. Joaquin Phoenix brought Arthur Fleck to life in 2019’s Joker, a darker adaptation of the life of DC’s infamous villain, which became one of the most commercially successful comic book movies of all time. While Joker was originally planned as a standalone story, the film’s massive success led to a sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, going into production, but reveals about the new addition to the franchise have left many with some serious doubts.
While Joker explored Arthur Fleck’s descent into villainy, there is a vast amount of speculation about what direction Joker: Folie à Deux will take, especially after Lady Gaga was confirmed to play Harley Quinn in the upcoming film. Joining Phoenix and Gaga are the likes of Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Zazie Beetz, who is reprising her role as Sophie from Joker. While there is excitement surrounding the film, particularly now that it’s been confirmed to be a DC Elseworlds project in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, there are still huge concerns surrounding Joker: Folie à Deux, but it can put these to rest.
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SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAYCloseJoker Was The Perfect Standalone Film
Perhaps the greatest concern surrounding the development of Joker: Folie à Deux is that Joker was always intended to be a standalone feature and so was made as such. The ending of Joker, while left ambiguous, didn’t neatly set up the prospect of a sequel. All the loose ends were tied up in Arthur Fleck’s story, as Joker was always supposed to be a prequel to the Joker’s criminal activity in Gotham City, and Arthur went through a whole character arc in the film, taking him from downtrodden outcast to nihilistic criminal, so it’s difficult to imagine what story Joker: Folie à Deux will tell next.
The inclusion of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn certainly helps to ease these doubts, as her debut provides a natural progression of Arthur’s story, especially since the end of Joker saw him incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, where the pair meet in DC Comics. Joker: Folie à Deux runs the risk of feeling like a spiritual successor to Joker rather than a direct continuation of the story since Arthur’s story in the original film seemed to have reached a satisfying conclusion. Even Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix stressed that a sequel wouldn’t be developed in the immediate aftermath of Joker’s release, so these concerns are certainly valid.
Joker: Folie À Deux Is Set To Be A Musical Movie
After Lady Gaga’s casting, it was rumored, and later confirmed, that Joker: Folie à Deux would be a movie musical, which came as a huge surprise to audiences. The last thing that would be expected in a gritty exploration of mental health and criminality would be for the primary cast to be breaking out in song and dance, and though this continues the experimental nature of Joker, there are doubts over whether these two very contrasting genres will mash-up well. It’s possible that the musical tones of Joker: Folie à Deux will detract from the actual heavy-hitting story that’s being told.
Joker worked so well thanks in part to its grounded nature, where other comic book movie adaptations have been leaning more toward science fiction, so there are fears that making Joker: Folie à Deux a movie musical will take away from the more realistic approach to comic storytelling on screen. There is certainly a balance that needs to be struck when integrating the grittier textures of the world of Joker with the preconceptions of movie musicals. While it might be a major worry for musical numbers to be featured in Joker: Folie à Deux, trying something new in the upcoming film could also be the key to the sequel’s success.
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Joker’s Depiction Of Mental Illness Was Problematic
Even though Joker was incredibly successful, the film still came under a huge amount of scrutiny, with one of the most significant criticisms being the often-problematic depiction of mental illness. Throughout the film, Arthur struggles with his mental illness, but this came with the unfortunate subtext of his mental illness being the thing that led to his brutality and violent outbursts and eventually to his descent to becoming the Joker, a.k.a. the Clown Prince of Crime, in Gotham City. Joker’s depiction of mental illness became the film’s most divisive talking point and is something that Joker: Folie à Deux runs the risk of repeating.
This is especially true since much of Joker: Folie à Deux is expected to take place within the walls of Arkham Asylum, Gotham’s most infamous mental health institution. This setting suggests that more emphasis will be put on Arthur’s mental illness, as well as the conditions of those around him, and the love-story dynamic and musical numbers between him and Gaga’s Harley Quinn could potentially glamorize mental illness. This would veer further away from an accurate portrayal of mental illness than Joker did and make Joker: Folie à Deux an even more problematic installment in the Joker franchise than its predecessor.
Joker 2 Will Lack Personal Connections For Arthur Fleck
Until the release of Joker, rarely had a comic villain been given the kind of character study that Phillips and Phoenix developed with Arthur Fleck, but this hinged on Arthur’s personal connections to the people around him. However, this is something that Joker: Folie à Deux could be seriously lacking, as most of Arthur’s immediate connections didn’t make it out of Joker alive. While Beetz has been confirmed to be returning as Sophie Dumond, it’s unknown what capacity this will be in, as her relationship with Arthur in Joker was entirely fabricated in his mind, so it’s unclear who Arthur Fleck in Joker: Folie à Deux will actually affect.
Joker featured Arthur murdering his mother, Penny Fleck, after realizing she’d been lying to him for his whole life, taking out talk-show host Murray Franklin live on air, and coming to the understanding that his relationship with Sophie had been a fabrication. This means that new connections will need to be introduced in Joker: Folie à Deux, which may not have as great an impact on Arthur himself as those who were part of his life before becoming the Joker. Some of Joker’s magic could be lost since Arthur already has nothing to lose.
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Joker’s Entire Storyline Was Ambiguous
Joker was a masterclass in subverting audience expectations since, throughout the entire film, viewers are led to believe one thing to be the truth when in fact, it is the exact opposite. Arthur’s relationship with Sophie is the perfect example of this, as the realization that their situation is entirely made-up comes as a shock to both the audience and to Arthur himself. In fact, the entirety of Joker is open to interpretation, as many have theorized that none of the events of the film actually happened in real life, adding more weight to Arthur’s mental illness but also creating a huge amount of ambiguity that keeps Joker so thrilling.
By continuing the story in Joker: Folie à Deux, the questions surrounding whether the events of Joker were real or not will be definitively answered, which could subtract some of the joy of watching. Either Joker’s storyline will be revealed to be the true events, which could provide more gravitas to the brutality and violence of the film, or Folie à Deux will confirm Joker to actually be a delusion in Arthur’s mind while being held at Arkham Asylum. This is a question that is perhaps better left unanswered, as the Joker is significantly more creepy when audiences aren’t sure what’s real or not, and a sequel could ruin this.
Why Joker 2 Will (Probably) Avoid The Biggest Concerns
While Joker: Folie à Deux does carry these immense concerns and casts some doubt as to whether the sequel ever needed to be developed, there is still a huge amount of hope for the continuation of Arthur Fleck’s story. Harley Quinn’s introduction alone proves that there are more stories to be told in the Joker franchise, even though Gaga’s casting came as a surprise to many who consider her too theatrical for the gritty world of Joker. The first look at Harley Quinn and Arthur Fleck in Joker: Folie à Deux seems to suggest, however, that the darker and more grounded tones of Joker will be carried over into the sequel.
It’s likely that Todd Phillips has considered the criticisms of Joker during the development of Folie à Deux, perhaps taking a more tender approach to the sensitive subject of mental illness while still finding the balance between accurate representation and the downright brutality of the Joker himself. With big names such as Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener attached to the project, new character debuts will expand the world of Joker’s Gotham, allow new stories to develop naturally, and potentially even birth more sequels in Joker’s new franchise. Joker: Folie à Deux is set for release on October 4, 2024.
