This year’s highly anticipated Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, sees Joaquin Phoenix return as the famous crime prince and Batman villain. But this time, he’s not alone as the sequel adds Harley Quinn, played by pop superstar and decorated actor Lady Gaga, to the upcoming DC film. But if you were expecting a sassy, gum-chewing, bat-swinging Harley with her trademark accent and sass, well...I got bad news.
Joker: Folie à Deux, which lands in theaters on October 4, is the big musical sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 Joker. The film was a gritter and more realistic take on the famous Batman villain, with Phoenix playing a more tragic and broken version of the Joker than previously seen in live-action movies and TV. And in the upcoming sequel, Phillips is trying to do something similar with Harley Quinn.
In a new interview with Variety, Philips explained the origin behind the sequel, why it’s a musical, and what it was like working with Phoneix again on a new Joker film. But he also talked about Harley Quinn, played by Gaga, and explained that his version of the character would be very different.
“The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing, and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away,” said Phillips. “We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie.”
In a video posted by Variety, Phillips further explained that Gaga is doing what Phoenix did with Joker and creating her “own take” on the famous character.
“We tried to respect the animated series, the comics, the movies, but run it through a really realistic lens like we did [in Joker,]” said Phillips. It should be noted that in Joker 2, Harley Quinn isn’t a doctor at the Arkham, but instead a patient, which is another big change.
Of course, many online weren’t happy about this. And while it is true that other Batman characters have been depicted in various ways over the years, it does seem odd to toss out the entire foundation of the character but keep her name. But then again, this is its own universe disconnected from other DC movies or comics, so it makes sense that the people involved would want to experiment and try new things. I’m curious to see if this experimentation will be worth it when the sequel arrives in October.
As for Joker 3, well, it sounds unlikely that Phillips will return, telling Variety: “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world.”
However, if this movie does as well as Joker, don’t be surprised if WB goes out and finds someone else to direct a third one. They’ll likely also dump as much money in front of Phoenix as needed to bring him back for one more sequel.
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