The First Full Trailer for Joker: Folie À Deux Puts on a Happy Face
Get ready to embrace your inner psycho again because the Joker is about to be unleashed. Today, Warner Bros. released the first full trailer for Joker: Folie À Deux, the sequel to Todd Phillips’ Joker, the surprise smash hit from 2019. Joker: Folie À Deux returns us to Arthur Fleck, the mentally disturbed wannabe clown who went on a murder spree that plunged Gotham City into chaos and turned him into the Joker. Arthur is locked up in Arkham Asylum and awaiting a trial while the public debates whether he’s a hero for the downtrodden or a monster waiting to swallow the world. But a chance at true love may unlock a new, musical part of Arthur’s madness. Joaquin Phoenix returns as Arthur Fleck/the Joker, with Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, as well as Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Steve Coogan, Ken Leung, and Bill Smitrovich. Zazie Beetz also reprises her role from Joker. Todd Phillips directs once again from a script by Phillips and Scott Silver. Joker: Folie À Deux will arrive in theaters on October 4, 2024, and you can watch the trailer below:
Like probably most people, I was iffy on the idea of a Joker sequel. I loved the first one, but it felt like it should just exist on its own, a singular work that can be interpreted in a myriad of different ways. (I’ve heard from some people who think everything Batman-related was another fantasy of Arthur’s.) But I was iffy on Joker as well, and Todd Phillips made an amazing film out of a modern myth, a study of a mentally ill man looking to belong in a society that wanted nothing to do with him, all the while ignoring that he created many of his problems himself. So, my hesitation for a sequel was outweighed by the trust Phillips has more than earned from me, similarly to how I trusted Christopher Nolan after Batman Begins despite having reservations about Heath Ledger playing the Joker. (Funny how it always comes back to the Clown Prince of Crime.) And everything I’ve seen from Joker: Folie À Deux has made me more interested in how Phillips will continue Arthur Fleck’s story.
The new trailer starts perfectly by reminding us how brilliant Joaquin Phoenix was in Joker. That ride in the prison bus has him sitting still, suddenly laughing, then stopping as if he were merely scratching his nose. It’s also a reminder of Arthur’s condition; this Joker laughs compulsively, as if nature is forcing him to react with joy at a world he thinks is dark and cruel. Meanwhile, Arthur has become a spectacle, with some segments of the population doing what they always do in real life and lionizing a psychotic murderer. This is what the people who freaked out about the first film didn’t understand, or didn’t want to: these movies are aware that Arthur Fleck is not a hero. He’s a dangerous lunatic who, though he has a tragic story (whichever parts of it are real), is a ticking time bomb that will inevitably kill people, a product of the increasingly crazy society around him. That appears to carry over to Joker: Folie À Deux, and I’m excited to see what Phillips has to say about our seemingly shattered world this time.
I’m also looking forward to seeing the character work in Joker: Folie À Deux, for Arthur and the new people drawn into his world. I can’t wait to see what this version of Harley Quinn is like, which is a nice feeling because I’m getting tired of Harley’s omnipresence in DC media. I loved her in Batman: The Animated Series and Mad Love (which is a brilliant origin story), but she’s been turned into something completely different in her more recent appearances, showcased because she’s a woman and they can make her sexy. Perhaps, in a way, that primed me for this version, which looks like it will be a new interpretation of Harley and her romance with the Joker. (That final image of the Joker turning and smiling after having sung with her is outstanding.) Brendan Gleeson is a guard at Arkham, and one shot makes it look like he’s abusive towards Arthur – I don’t see a peaceful end to his story if that’s the case.
As for the musical aspect of Joker: Folie À Deux, which seems to have a lot of people scratching their heads, I still think this is going to be in Arthur’s mind, a psychological manifestation of his love story with Harley. And I think that could be fantastic. There’s so much Phillips can do with that setup, and I really want to see where all of this goes.
