Get ready for a new look at the mad love of Joker: Folie à Deux. On Tuesday, Warner Bros. Pictures dropped the second full trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux, bizarrely and beautifully showcasing the love story between Arthur Fleck / The Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) and Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). This comes just a few months ahead of Folie à Deux‘s cinematic debut, which is scheduled for early October.
Joker: Folie à Deux is a sequel to the events of 2019’s Joker, which grossed over $1 billion at the global box office and garnered multiple Academy Awards. While Joker was initially designed to be a singular standalone film, Folie à Deux ups the ante even further, folding in some interesting touchstones for classic cinema in the process.
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What Is Joker 2 About?
Joker: Folie à Deux will be a musical that follows the twisted romance between Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn, with a lot of the film believed to be taking place within Arkham Asylum. Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux will also feature appearances from Zazie Beetz, Brendon Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Jacob Lofland.
“I actually think it makes wonderful sense,” Beetz previously said of the film’s musical elements. “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.”
Is Joker 2 in the DC Universe?
Joker: Folie à Deux is technically classified as a DC Elseworlds production, meaning that it exists in a canon outside of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s forthcoming DC Universe of movies and Max-exclusive television shows. In a previous post on the social media platform Threads, Gunn revealed his involvement in Folie a Deux, explaining that he did give notes on the finished footage. That being said, Gunn did stress that the Joker sequel is one of the few upcoming DC films being shepherded by Warner Bros. Pictures, given when the film was first put into development.
“Todd had Joker in full swing by the time we came onboard – I’ve watched and given notes, but it is mostly with WB, where it started,” Gunn wrote at the tim. “Everything forward in live-action we’re involved with.”
Joker: Folie à Deux will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, October 4th.