Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Joker grossed over $US1 ($1) billion and landed its star, Joaquin Phoenix, an Oscar for Best Actor. Those are the kind of accolades movie studios dream of, so there was lots of talk about a potential sequel. But was Joker really a movie that needed a sequel? Wouldn’t that go against its whole disconnected point? Now we know for sure.
Phillips took to Instagram Tuesday to reveal that he and writer Scott Silver have penned a sequel to Joker called Joker: Folie à Deux. That’s French for “shared madness” and is a phrase commonly used to describe when multiple people share a similar delusion. Like, say, if a group of people believed a certain comedian turned killer was actually a hero.
In addition to the script and title, Phillips posted a photo of Phoenix himself reading the script. That makes it seem like things are progressing after months of uncertainty. And while it’s unclear if this is a movie that’s officially happening (io9 has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment or clarification and will update the post if we hear back), at the very least, it’s confirmation that Phillips has decided to try and make a sequel. For the longest time, it seemed as if he and Phoenix were open to it, but only if there was a way in that respected the non-comic book nature of the original.
A Joker sequel also begins to raise those same old DC Universe questions too. Will the young Bruce Wayne as seen in the first film grow up at all? Will he become a certain Caped Crusader? And if so, what would that say about Arthur’s journey? Or other Batmen in other movies? So many questions, not many answers. But at least we know Joker 2 is being worked on by the team who made the first.
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Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.