Joker Movie Deleted Scene Revealed Fate of Zazie Beetz’s Character Sophie

There’s still big looming question about whether or not the events of DC’s Joker movie actually occur, or if they’re just the twisted fantasy of Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck. However, within that mystery, there’s a more specific unanswered question about Sophie, the character played by Deadpool 2 star Zazie Beets. One of Joker‘s biggest twists is the reveal that Arthur Fleck’s whirlwind romance with Sophie is actually just a fantasy of the disturbed man’s mind – a subplot that comes to a major climax when Fleck finally learns that the real Sophie not only doesn’t love him, but but barely knows he’s even alive.

Joker director Todd Phillips chose not to show the full scene of what happens between Arthur Fleck and Sophie at the end, leaving many wondering if the downtrodden single mom wasn’t brutally murdered by Fleck (like many other supporting characters in the movie). Well, as it turns out there was a scene that answered the question of Sophie’s fate in Joker, although it was ultimately deleted.

As IndieWire reports, Joker cinematographer Lawrence Sher has already revealed that Zazie Beetz‘s Sophie definitely survived the events of Joker, and has gone on to reveal that Todd Phillips had actually included one more scene with Beetz in the film, which would’ve confirmed as much:

“Todd makes it clear she wasn’t killed,” Sher said. “Arthur is killing people who’ve wronged him in a certain way, and Sophie never wronged him.”

Phillips also addressed the issue with IndieWire, confirming that Sophie 100% was not killed in the film:

“He doesn’t kill her, definitively,” Phillips said. “As the filmmaker and the writer I am saying he doesn’t kill her. We like the idea that it’s almost like a litmus test for the audience to say, ‘how crazy is he?’ Most people that I’ve spoken to think he didn’t kill her because they understand the idea that he only kills people that did him wrong. She had nothing to do with it. Most people understood that, even as a villain, he was living by a certain code. Of course he didn’t kill this woman down the hall.”

While the scene was left somewhat ambiguous, if you’re truly following the fine details of Joker as the movie unfolds, you know that what Phillips says here definitely track with the film’s internal logic regarding Arthur Fleck’s character. For all the controversy over Joker‘s treatment of violence, Phillips does lay out a clear cause and effect method of provocation when it comes to Arthur’s shocking violent outbursts. Arthur is beaten down by a gang early in the film, so when later on when a different gang tries to beat him down (the stock guys) he reacts and kills. However, Sophie never hurt Arthur at all, and even though their “relationship” is imagined, it’s important to remember that in Arhtur’s head she’s always a saint. Killing her would’ve been truly random and out of character, even for “Joker.”

Joker is now in theaters. Upcoming DC Movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2020.