When 2019’s Joker came out, the world was thrown into a tailspin at the iconic portrayal that Joaquin Phoenix brought to the mesmerizing DC character, painting a moving picture of many elements of society, such as the state of mental health, capitalism, poverty, and so much more. It captured the eyes of audiences and did fantastically well at the box office, and won Phoenix the Academy Award for Best Actor. Truly, it was a masterpiece.
So, of course, a sequel was called for, and now we know enough to talk about the next Joker film that is being worked on right now. However, who is going to star in this film with Phoenix and Lady Gaga? What might it be about? If you have these questions and more, here is what we know so far about Joker: Folie à Deux. .
What Is The Joker: Folie A Deux Release Date?
Joker: Folie à Deux is set to come out October 4, 2024, according to Deadline, so it’ll be appearing on our 2024 movie schedule.
Also confirmed by Deadline is that the sequel to Joker will be titled Joker: Folie à Deux You might be wondering what this means for the Joker universe, and basically “folie à deux” is a French term that pertains to the medical field, referring to a mental illness that affects two or more people.
What this means for the plot is unknown. The Joker ending had Arthur Fleck living in a mental asylum and supposedly committing murders (if it wasn’t all in his mind) against the nurses, but the title could mean that we might see someone other than Fleck having the same serious mental problems - which we’ll get into later.
Joaquin Phoenix And Lady Gaga Will Co-Star Together
It wouldn't really be a sequel to Joker if the man himself wasn’t returning, and thankfully, we don’t need to deal with another person taking on the mantle of the famous villain, as Joaquin Phoenix is confirmed to return as Arthur Fleck, according to Variety.
Phoenix ended up garnering critical acclaim for his portrayal of Fleck, earning him several awards, including an Academy Award, so it makes sense that he would return. Phoenix did a lot of work to prepare for the role of Fleck, including losing a lot of weight to fit the part, so who knows exactly what’s going to happen next for the star in this sequel. But, I’ll be excited to watch him either way.
Another person that we can all expect to star in the sequel is Lady Gaga. When the news was first circulating that Lady Gaga might be hopping onto Joker: Folie à Deux to star opposite Phoenix, I was eager to see who she would play, but now we at least have confirmation that Lady Gaga is going to star in Joker: Folie à Deux alongside Phoenix, according to the Variety article from before.
In celebration, Lady Gaga took to Twitter to share her excitement for the role, sharing a teaser with the rest of her followers to confirm her place in the film:
Joker: Folie à Deux10.04.24 pic.twitter.com/obp7T9lBFLAugust 4, 2022
Variety initially reported that Lady Gaga would possibly play the role of Harley Quinn, a character that has been seen in live action several times lately in the DC universe, and with her confirmation in the movie, I can’t wait to see what she brings to the table. We’ve had Margot Robbie playing Harley Quinn in the DC live-action films, and even heard Kaley Cuoco voice the iconic character for the HBO Max original series, but this would be a brand new version, separated from both those universes.
Later down the line, it was confirmed that Lady Gaga was indeed playing Harley Quinn – and already, the director shared a first-look photo of her and Phoenix on his Instagram as the two iconic characters.
Lady Gaga has had plenty of mind-bending roles in her time as an actress, like her starring roles on the Ryan Murphy-created American Horror Story series, so seeing her step into the shoes of a character like Harley Quinn is going to be exciting.
Zazie Beetz Will Return As Sophie
If you liked Zazie Beetz in Joker, check out her other great roles.
If you were wondering who else might be joining these stars in Joker: Folie à Deux, there are several actors and actresses that are confirmed. Someone that you might remember from the first film is in talks to come back for the second– Zazie Beetz, as reported by Deadline, back in August 2022.
Beetz is known for plenty of roles, including her starring role in Atlanta as well as Deadpool 2, but it’ll be awesome to see her in the Joker universe once again.
Zazie Beetz even had the opportunity to talk about the upcoming film to Variety in June 2023, saying that she believes it won’t be what fans “expect” of the film:
I think people will be surprised. I don't think it's going to be what they expect, around it being musical. We all sort of express musically and dancing in our lives day-to-day. I think it's going to work really well.
I’m just excited to have her back in the sequel – and I have a feeling it’ll be awesome.
Catherine Keener, Brendan Glesson And More Have Been Cast As Well
Deadline also confirmed that Brendan Gleeson joined the cast of the movie. Gleeson has done plenty of notable work, including the Academy Award-nominated movie, The Banshees of Inisherin and Mr. Mercedes, and now he’ll be stepping into the world of Arthur Fleck.
Another star that is set to join is Catherine Keener, according to Deadline, in an undisclosed role, but we know that it will be major. Also cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is Jacob Lofland, whose character is unnamed so far, but it is apparently a “key Arkham Asylum role.” Which, if you can remember, is where Arthur is institutionalized at the end of Joker.
Harry Lawtey is also set to join the ensemble, according to Deadline. His role is also unknown as of March 2023, but Deadline also reported that the role is also going to be a “big one.”
Something else that’s been teased is that Harvey Dent could appear in Joker: Folie à Deux. According to leaked set photos (via ScreenRant), there are signs that look to be in the movie that say, “Dent is a Clown,” which would be in reference to the famous Batman villain, Harvey Dent, otherwise known as Two-Face. This isn’t confirmed yet, just a rumor, but a decent one to talk about and theorize on.
The Sequel Could Involve Arkham Asylum In A Big Way
Story details for the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux are sparse, but there are a few things that people have been milling about recently. The reason we say this is that Harry Lawtey’s character is set to have a big role as part of the mental asylum, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This wouldn’t be that surprising, honestly. Arthur Fleck ended up in the asylum at the very end of the first Joker film, and Harley Quinn’s backstory is that she works as a shrink there, where she falls in love with the Joker. If they are casting additional roles for characters within the asylum, we could end up seeing much more of it this time around in the sequel.
The Joker Sequel Will Be A Musical
I don’t think this was something anyone saw coming, but somehow, I can see it working. Confirmed in the Variety article regarding Lady Gaga’s casting, this upcoming sequel is set to be a musical.
I mean, if we want to talk about the best person to bring in for a musical, it would be Lady Gaga. The superstar has won several Grammy Awards for her impressive music career, sold millions of records, and even won an Academy Award for her song “Shallow” in the film, A Star is Born, so she would be the best co-star to have in a movie like this.
And, I can’t wait to see the musical moments between her and Phoenix. Now that is something I’m willing to pay to see - whether it be in their heads or not.
Todd Philips Is Returning To The Director’s Chair
According to the Deadline article regarding the release date for the sequel, it’s been confirmed that the original director of Joker, Todd Philips, is returning to the director’s chair for Joker 2. In early June 2022, Philips took to his Instagram to share a teaser of the first page of the script for Joker: Folie à Deux, and it wasn’t that long after that it was confirmed he would return.
Philips was also nominated for Best Director for the original Joker, so it’s great to see him return to the sequel and I can’t wait to see how he turns this into a musical. It’s going to be something different, that is for sure.
Joker: Folie à Deux Will Not Be Directly In James Gunn’s DC’ Universe
It’s been a pretty hot topic of discussion whether these new movies like Joker: Folie à Deux or the upcoming The Batman sequel are going to be within the new DC universe that James Gunn is building. But the answer to that is a resounding no.
In a Twitter video that Gunn put up on his page, his confirmed that both the Joker films and The Batman films that star Robert Pattinson take place in a world called the ‘DC Elseworlds,’ where these films can reside and stay in while the main DC universe films – the ones that Gunn is working on personally like Superman: Legacy – will remain in his universe so other stories get to shine somewhere else:
The bar for an Elseworlds tale is going to be higher than the bar for a movie within the DCU. Not that we’re not always going to have a high bar, but it’s got to be something really special for us to tell that story outside of our regular continuity and to spend the money to make it.
So don’t expect to see this version of the Joker tangle with the new Batman anytime soon.
Filming Finished In April 2023
If you were to wonder when Joker: Folie à Deux would begin to film, the answer would be that it’s already in production. When the film was initially announced back in June 2022, it was confirmed there would be a production start of December 2022. Now, we can confirm that as of December 2022, filming has begun.
Todd Phillips actually posted a picture of Phoenix on set on Day 1 of filming in December on Instagram, simply captioning it, “My boy. Day 1.”
However, in April 2023, it was confirmed that the Joker sequel had finished filming. Phillips took to Instagram to share the news, thanking the cast and crew for a great time filming.
More and more news has come out about the release of the film. Phillips also took to Instagram on October 4th, 2023, a year out from the film’s release and posted another first-look picture of the film:
A cinematographer also spoke up with how post-production is going to Definition Magazine (via Superhero Hype) in October 2023, saying that the film is a “big swing” and will really surprise some people.
Man, I really just want next year to come already. It’s going to be insane.
What are you the most excited for in terms of Joker: Folie à Deux? I’m sure that whatever comes to theaters on October 4, 2024, we are all going to be blown away, and I can’t wait to see the Joker and Harley Quinn back on screen in live-action form.
