The Suicide Squad Director James Gunn Speaks Out on Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn Casting in Joker 2

Last week, Lady Gaga confirmed her involvement in the sequel to Todd Phillips’s Joker, Joker: Folie a Deux, with the entertainer posting a short animated teaser to social media featuring Joaquin’s Arthur Fleck and her Harley Quinn dancing. The post confirmed long-standing rumors about Gaga’s involvement with the film and now, The Suicide Squad director James Gunn, whose own film prominently featured Margot Robbie’s Harley,  is speaking out about the news. On Instagram, Gunn took to answering fan questions on his Story and when asked about his thoughts on the casting, wrote that he was “really interested” to see things and also said that he’s rooting for Gaga to do well.

“I’m really interested to see what Todd Phillips cooks up,” Gunn wrote. “I met Lady Gaga once and she was really nice, so I’m always rooting for nice people to do well.”

It was originally reported earlier this year that Gaga was up to play Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie a Deux and that the sequel will be a musical, something that Joker star Zazie Beetz recently said “makes sense”. It was announced on Monday that Beetz is returning for Folie a Deux herself.

“I actually think it makes wonderful sense,” Beetz said. “I wasn’t really surprised by that Todd has always had a creative approach to the character. I love musicals, and I think of them as the characters are feeling and experiencing so much that they can only sing and dance about it, whether in sorrow or in joy. And I can actually see that within myself as well, because singing and dancing is quite a cathartic experience for me. I was going through a really, really difficult time at one point in my life, and I just started dancing and crying by myself. And that was an expression that matched where I was at that moment. And so, I can see Arthur, who is feeling and experiencing so much, dancing and singing about it. He’s the Joker, so I think it makes sense to me.”

Joker: Folie a Deux has been confirmed for an October 4, 2024, release date with Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix set to return as well as Phillips back behind the camera. Phillips co-wrote the sequel script with Scott Silver. The film’s title, Folie d Deux, is a reference to a rare psychiatric syndrome sometimes referred to as shared psychosis or shared delusional disorder in which various symptoms of a delusional belief is shared between individuals, usually those who have a close relationship and may also be socially or physically isolated with little interaction with other people — a scenario that would fit an overall Harley/Joker story as well as a previous report that the film is largely set inside Gotham’s Arkham Asylum.

Joker: Folie a Deux is set to hit theaters October 4, 2024.