Joker: Folie Deux, the follow-up to the 2019 film Joker, has begun shooting. Todd Phillips, on his own Instagram, tweeted an image of Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the eponymous character with two simple sentences: “Day 1. Our boy. #joker.” Since it was announced, fans have been anticipating this sequel, and now they won’t have to wait too long to enjoy the on-screen folie à deux.
The release date of the movie and a teaser were then provided by Phillips, who also revealed that Lady Gaga would play the renowned DC villain Harley Quinn in this movie. Quinn will make her second appearance in a live-action film after being portrayed twice by Margot Robbie. Joker 2 will take place at Arkham Asylum, though we don’t yet know much about the specifics of the plot. As she initially met him while treating him at Arkham and fell in love with him, this would be consistent with Harley Quinn and the Joker’s shared storylines. One could describe it as a crazy, horrible romance.
Another intriguing aspect of this movie is that it will be a musical. This is a significant departure from the first movie’s dark, gritty, and almost realistic tone, which focused on society’s various ills. Gaga is the ideal candidate to star opposite Phoenix in this film because she is a well-known singer and performer in her own right and has won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the film A Star Is Born.
Robbie said, “It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning that all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way Macbeth or Batman, always gets passed from great actor to great actor. It’s kind of like someone gets to do their Batman, or someone gets to do their Macbeth. I feel like, in not so many cases, are they female characters Queen Elizabeth I, but beyond that, which I got to have a crack out as well, which I was honored to do. I was like, ‘Wow! Cate Blanchett did Queen Elizabeth I. Now I get to.’ It’s such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters that other actors get to have a go at playing. And I think she’ll do something incredible with it.”