Joaquin Phoenix's "Joker" Is Making A Comeback In A Sequel: “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
Variety - Director Todd Phillips posted to Instagram the first confirmation that the sequel to 2019’s “Joker” is moving forward on Tuesday — including the cover of the script, written by Phillips and Scott Silver, his collaborator on the first film, with the eyebrow-raising title “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
In the same post, Phillips included a shot of star Joaquin Phoenix reading the screenplay.
Phillips’ original “Joker” film reframed the iconic Batman villain into an anti-hero character study about a struggling comedian and part-time clown performer named Arthur Fleck who becomes a folk hero in Gotham City after he lashes out in acts of shocking violence. Moody, dark, and studiously avoiding the action beats typical of superhero cinema, the film was still a massive global blockbuster, grossing over $1 billion worldwide. It earned 12 Oscar nominations, including for best picture, best director for Phillips, and best-adapted screenplay for Phillips and Silver. Phoenix won the Oscar for best actor and Hildur Guðnadóttir won for best original score.
While Phillips did not share any plot details about the new “Joker” movie in his Instagram post, the title does offer some intriguing implications. Translated literally as “shared madness,” folie à deux is a layman’s term for shared delusional disorder. That could refer to how Arthur’s villainy is widely embraced by Gotham City in the first film, but it could also suggest that Phillips’ sequel will bring his own interpretation of Joker’s main (and, really, only) partner in life, crime, and madness, Harley Quinn — who has been played in other DC adaptations by Margot Robbie (in live-action) and Kaley Cuoco (in animation).
Fun fact - Folie à deux is a French term that refers to a mental disorder impacting two or more individuals. So we can likely expect someone to join the Joker in the sequel, whether it's with or against him. Possibly The Batman?
This is good news I guess. Steven Cheah disagrees, but I liked the twist Joaquin Phoenix put on he and Todd Phillips' version of The Joker in the first film. What Heath Ledger was able to do in terms of making the audience understand where he was coming from, and maybe even question our own morals, Phoenix somehow made his character tragic, emoting a relatable sympathy, or unratable empathy even, from the viewer.
As fucked up as it sounds, after watching Arthur Fleck get harassed and the shit beat out of him for no real reason over and over, kicked while he was down, with a heaping pile of mental abuse thrown in from his mother, in a way you couldn't help but root for him.
The film was a mind fuck in more ways than one, which is why even though the character has been beaten to death a million times, this movie still left you walking out of the theatre impressed.
I think the craziest part of the entire thing is the fact that this guy-
yah, the "I'm here for the gangbang guy", aka Todd Phillips, directed that movie. Guy is a five-tool player if I've ever seen one.