Writer/director Todd Phillips' gritty origin story ​Joker,​ starring Joaquin Phoenix
in the title role, emerged in late 2019 as one of the biggest surprise hits of the decade
— and all the hub-bub got us wondering… what would ​Joker 2​ look like?
All we can do at this point is speculate — but, you know what?
We're pretty good at that.
Spoilers for Joker ahead!
Speaking with IndieWire in November 2019, Todd Phillips set the record straight in regard
to a potential Joker follow-up: He admitted that the idea of a sequel had certainly been
discussed, but that there's not a deal in place yet — and Phoenix hasn't been approached
about returning at this time.
Phillips dished:
"Here's the real truth about a sequel.
While Joaquin and I have talked about it, and while touring the world with Warner Bros
executives... of course, we're sitting at dinner and they're saying, 'So, have you thought
about...?'
But, talking about contracts, there's not a contract for us to even write a sequel,
we've never approached Joaquin to be in a sequel."
Sorry, folks — that's the cold, hard truth.
"Why are you saying this?
I don't need you to tell me lies!"
The director also clarified that a purported meeting with Warner Bros.
Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich — which was originally misreported by THR — didn't
go down the way the outlet had described it.
While he copped to pitching a slate of films featuring DC villains during his initial Joker
pitch, the notion had swiftly been shot down.
It's worth noting that, even in the wake of THR's jumping the gun, neither Phillips nor
Phoenix has shot down the idea of Joker 2.
In fact, Phillips might have poured a bit more gasoline on the flames when asked about
the idea at an industry event hosted by Deadline in late 2019.
Phillips said with a chuckle:
"When a movie does $1 billion and cost $60 million to make, of course [the notion of
a sequel] comes up.
But Joaquin and I haven't really decided on it.
We're open.
I mean, I'd love to work with him on anything, quite frankly.
So who knows?"
Phillips implied that if he and Phoenix do decide to revisit Arthur Fleck's world, though,
it won't be the potential for more big box office bucks driving their decision.
He explained:
"[A sequel] would have to have a real thematic resonance the way this one did, ultimately
being about childhood trauma and the lack of love, and the loss of empathy.
All those things are really what made this movie work for us, so we'd have to have something
that had an equal thematic resonance."
"Everybody is awful, these days.
It's enough to make anyone crazy."
Even if Joker 2 were to be confirmed tomorrow, at this early date, we wouldn't have any idea
who might be filling out the flick's cast — but we do feel pretty safe in stating
that there's absolutely no way Phoenix wouldn't return to further plumb the depths of Fleck's
tortured mind if it were to happen.
Phillips has repeatedly made it clear that there's no way he'd even entertain the possibility
of a sequel if Phoenix, for whom he and Scott Silver wrote the first movie, weren't on board.
Incidentally, while we can in all likelihood consider Phoenix a lock if Joker 2 gets the
greenlight, the only other bit of info around potential casting, which we could confidently
go on record reporting, concerns who we know wouldn't be in the movie: Robert Pattinson.
The talented young actor will be portraying the title character in director Matt Reeves'
upcoming picture The Batman, but Phillips has strongly implied that Pattinson's Bruce
Wayne and Phoenix's Arthur Fleck exist in completely different continuities.
Asked at the Toronto International Film Festival if it were possible that Pattinson's Dark
Knight could appear in a Joker sequel, Phillips was unequivocal, saying simply, "No, definitely
not."
This actually makes a ton of sense — for as Joker's fans know, the film's relationship
to DC lore is a complicated one.
Again, any attempt to parse out the plot of a potential Joker sequel would be an exercise
in pure guesswork at this point.
Of course, we can offer at least a couple guesses of the educated variety — but they
mostly have to do with what the movie wouldn't be about.
First and foremost, as revealed by Phillips' comments at TIFF, the film would not in any
way, shape, or form be about Batman.
Yes, Bruce Wayne did appear in Joker — as a child of perhaps ten, and since Phillips
has been clear on the fact that any sequel would simply continue to tell Arthur's story,
it's likely that young Master Bruce would still be in middle school during the events
of a potential follow-up.
We can infer from Phillips' determination to keep the focus squarely on Arthur that
any sequel is also unlikely to focus on any other of Gotham's budding supervillains.
There just might, however, be a slight chance that a Joker sequel could introduce a cunning,
cackling threat to Gotham other than Arthur: the real Joker.
Follow us here: even since before Joker was released, fans have speculated that Arthur
may not actually be the Joker with whom we're all familiar, but rather a sort of proto-Joker
who serves as a formative influence on the real deal.
The theory is compelling on its own merits, but it was lent a hell of a lot more credence
than had been assigned to it previously when Phillips referred to it in the wake of Joker's
staggering success.
Phillips raised the possibility unprompted in a wide-ranging Los Angeles Times interview.
The director said:
"There's a lot of ways you could look at this movie.
You could look at it and go, 'This is just one of his multiple-choice stories.
None of it happened'...
A lot of people I've shown it to have said, 'Oh, I get it — he's just made up a story.
The whole movie is the joke.
It's this thing this guy in Arkham Asylum concocted.
He might not even be the Joker'...
Maybe Joaquin's character inspired the Joker.
You don't really know."
[HAHAHAHAHAHAH]
No, we don't — but if they deign to give us Joker 2, Phillips, Silver, and Phoenix
have an opportunity to clear it up for us.
Could we perhaps see the emergence of the actual Joker in a sequel?
It's an intriguing possibility, but only time will tell.
Obviously, we don't yet have a release date for Joker 2, as the involved parties have
yet to even commence talks.
We don't even have an idea as to when the flick could potentially begin production,
but it's pretty safe to say that Phillips and Silver would be inclined to take their
time on the screenplay for a Joker sequel, crafting the most compelling story possible.
In fact, the writing process would likely be among the lengthiest parts of any sequel's
road to the screen.
We say this because, considering Joker's critical acclaim and box office clout, everybody involved
has a strong incentive to make sure that if the flick does get a follow-up, it's a worthy
one.
Rushing a second chapter to the screen would be folly; the first movie's titanic fan base
will still be there in two or three years, and even at that time, the indelible mark
left on pop culture by Joker isn't likely to have faded.
Of course, we'll be keeping our ears to the ground for any official announcement regarding
Joker 2 — and the minute we have it, we'll be beating down your door with the news.
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