The villainous comic drama ‘Joker’ hit theaters in 2019, and after the success of the dark character study, for which Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar and another win (for Hildur Guðnadóttir’s music) and a total of eleven nominations, momentum quickly built up It was clear that there would be a sequel. The bad news: there’s a five-year gap between the two films. The good news: the theatrical release of “Joker 2: Folie À Deux” is now just a year away!
“Joker 2” will hit theaters on October 3, 2024, and a year earlier, director Todd Phillips shared a new photo of Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck on Instagram to keep fans excited:
Phoenix is pictured as Arthur Fleck stands in the rain amid colorful parasols – which is a bit reminiscent of overarching dance numbers from musicals, now that we’re on the subject: “Joker 2: Folie À Deux” becomes a musical. This is an extremely exciting genre choice after the very serious and dark tone of the first part. How many musical interludes there will ultimately be remains to be seen. They will likely be part of the Joker and Harley Quinn’s (Lady Gaga) shared delusions that the sequel will be about.
“Joker 2: Folie À Deux”: Shared madness
Arthur Fleck ended up in the Arkham Asylum psychiatric institution, where he meets Harleen Quinzel alias Harley Quinn, with whom he develops a complicated (love) relationship in the comics. The film title ‘Folie À Deux’ probably refers to the mental illness of the same name, in which two people can develop a common delusional disorder. – and that sounds an awful lot like something that could connect the Joker to Harley Quinn, who is becoming increasingly obsessed with the Joker.
In addition to Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz also returns in the sequel as Arthur’s former neighbor Sophie Dumond. Other new additions besides Lady Gaga include Catherine Keener, Brendan Gleeson, Harry Lawtey and Jacob Lofland.
Todd Phillips’ “Joker 2: Folie À Deux” will be released in theaters on October 3, 2024. So just in time for the 2025 Oscar season…