Get ready, because Joker: Folie à Deux is coming this year – and this is what we know so far about it.
When 2019’s Joker came out, the world was thrown into a tailspin at the iconic portrayal that Joaquin Phoenix brought to the DC character, painting a moving picture of many elements of society, such as the state of mental health, capitalism, poverty, and so much more. It captured the eyes of audiences and did fantastically well at the box office, and won Phoenix the Academy Award for Best Actor. Truly, it was a masterpiece.
So, of course, a sequel was called for, and now we know enough to talk about the next Joker film that is being worked on right now. However, who is going to star in this film with Phoenix and Lady Gaga? What might it be about? If you have these questions and more, here is what we know so far about Joker: Folie à Deux.
What Is The Joker: Folie A Deux Release Date?
Joker: Folie à Deux is set to come out October 4, 2024, according to Deadline, so it’ll be appearing on our 2024 movie schedule.
Also confirmed by Deadline is that the sequel to Joker will be titled Joker: Folie à Deux You might be wondering what this means for the Joker universe, and basically “folie à deux” is a French term that pertains to the medical field, referring to a mental illness that affects two or more people.
What this means for the plot is unknown. The Joker ending had Arthur Fleck living in a mental asylum and supposedly committing murders (if it wasn’t all in his mind) against the nurses, but the title could mean that we might see someone other than Fleck having the same serious mental problems - which we’ll get into later.
Joaquin Phoenix And Lady Gaga Will Co-Star Together
If you were wondering who would be coming back for this new film, or who is new, the cast for Joker: Folie a Deux is impressive. Here is who we know for sure will be there:
Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck
It wouldn't really be a sequel to Joker if the man himself wasn’t returning, and thankfully, we don’t need to deal with another person taking on the mantle of the famous villain, as Joaquin Phoenix is confirmed to return as Arthur Fleck, according to Variety.
Phoenix ended up garnering critical acclaim for his portrayal of Fleck, earning him several awards, including an Academy Award, so it makes sense that he would return.
Lady Gaga as Harleen Quinzel
Another person that we can all expect to star in the sequel is Lady Gaga. When the news was first circulating that Lady Gaga might be hopping onto Joker: Folie à Deux to star opposite Phoenix, I was eager to see who she would play, but now we at least have confirmation that Lady Gaga is going to star in Joker: Folie à Deux alongside Phoenix, according to the Variety article from before.
Variety initially reported that Lady Gaga would possibly play the role of Harley Quinn. Later down the line, it was confirmed that Lady Gaga was indeed playing Harley Quinn – and already, the director shared a first-look photo of her and Phoenix on his Instagram as the two iconic characters.
Lady Gaga has had plenty of mind-bending roles in her time as an actress, like her starring roles on the Ryan Murphy-created American Horror Story series, so seeing her step into the shoes of a character like Harley Quinn is going to be exciting.
There was even an interview featured in the The Trenches Talk podcast in July 2023, where cinematographer Laurence Sher admitted he didn’t even meet the real Lady Gaga because she was always in character – so that just shows how serious she’s taking this role.
Zazie Beetz as Sophie
Someone that you might remember from the first film is coming back for the second– Zazie Beetz, as reported by Deadline, back in August 2022. Beetz is known for plenty of roles, including her starring role in Atlanta as well as Deadpool 2, but it’ll be awesome to see her in the Joker universe once again.
Zazie Beetz even had the opportunity to talk about the upcoming film to Variety in June 2023, saying that she believes it won’t be what fans “expect” of the film:
I think people will be surprised. I don't think it's going to be what they expect, around it being musical. We all sort of express musically and dancing in our lives day-to-day. I think it's going to work really well.
Additional Cast Members for Joker: Folie à Deux
Deadline also confirmed that Brendan Gleeson joined the cast of the movie. Gleeson has done plenty of notable work, including the Academy Award-nominated movie, The Banshees of Inisherin and Mr. Mercedes, and now he’ll be stepping into the world of Arthur Fleck.
Another star that is set to join is Catherine Keener, according to Deadline, in an undisclosed role, but we know that it will be major. Also cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is Jacob Lofland, whose character is unnamed so far, but it is apparently a “key Arkham Asylum role.” Which, if you can remember, is where Arthur is institutionalized at the end of Joker.
Harry Lawtey is also set to join the ensemble, according to Deadline. His role is also unknown as of March 2023, but Deadline also reported that the role is also going to be a “big one.”
Something else that’s been teased is that Harvey Dent could appear in Joker: Folie à Deux. According to leaked set photos (via ScreenRant), there are signs that look to be in the movie that say, “Dent is a Clown,” which would be in reference to the famous Batman villain, Harvey Dent, otherwise known as Two-Face. Whether or not Dent actually appears in the movie isn’t confirmed yet, but it’s something to theorize for now.
Joaquin Phoenix And Lady Gaga Shine In The First Trailer For Joker: Folie à Deux
After years of waiting, we finally have a trailer to watch for Joker: Folie à Deux. It feels like we’ve been waiting a century but already, it’s here, and it’s just as insane as you think it might be. We see both Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga deep in their roles of Arthur and Harley, meeting in a mental asylum, and how they find solace in each other in this big world – while also dancing the night away in the rain. Check it out above.
The Sequel Could Involve Arkham Asylum In A Big Way
Story details for the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux are sparse, but there are a few things that people have been theorizing. The reason fans are theorizing this is that Harry Lawtey’s character is set to have a big role as part of the mental asylum, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This wouldn’t be that surprising, honestly. Arthur Fleck ended up in the asylum at the very end of the first Joker film, and Harley Quinn’s backstory is that she works as a shrink there, where she falls in love with the Joker.
However, in the trailer for the movie, we see that Harley doesn’t work at the asylum, but is actually a patient herself, which is a pretty big change to her character from what we’ve seen in the past. Even so, I think Arkham Asylum is going to be a big part of this sequel, even if plot details are still quite limited.
The Joker Sequel Will Have “Musical Aspects”
I don’t think this was something anyone saw coming, but somehow, I can see it working. Originally confirmed in the Variety article regarding Lady Gaga’s casting, this upcoming sequel is set to be a musical. However, in an interview with Laurence Sher with Eyes Wise in February 2024, he confirmed that the movie has more “musical aspects” than being an actual musical:
It’s got some music. It’s not a musical per say. But it just has music in it, that's all. Music is a part of the movie and the characters, but I don’t know if it's a musical. But there’s a lot of music in the first Joker as well.
I mean, if we want to talk about the best person to bring in for a movie with musical aspects, it would be Lady Gaga. The superstar has won several Grammy Awards for her impressive music career, sold millions of records, and even won an Academy Award for her song “Shallow” in the film, A Star is Born, so she would be the best co-star to have in a movie like this.
And, I can’t wait to see the musical moments between her and Phoenix. Now that is something I’m willing to pay to see - whether it be in their heads or not.
In fact, the director, Todd Phillips, even opened up at CinemaCon in April 2024 (via Entertainment Weekly) about the musical aspects and why it happened, and why they decided to add it in for the sequel:
We never really talked about it like that, but I like to say it's a film where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn't veer too far from the first film. Arthur [Fleck]'s weird and aloof and all these things, but he has music in him. He has a grace to him. That informed a lot of the dancing in the first film... it didn't feel like that big of a step here. It's different, but I think it'll make sense when you see it.
From just the few shots we see in the trailer, I think these musical aspects are going to be epic.
Todd Philips Returned To The Director’s Chair
As mentioned before, it’s been confirmed that the original director of Joker, Todd Philips, returned to the director’s chair for Joker 2. Deadline’s article on the release date confirmed it first. In early June 2022, Philips took to his Instagram to share a teaser of the first page of the script for Joker: Folie à Deux, and it wasn’t that long after that it was confirmed he would return.
Philips was also nominated for Best Director for the original Joker, so it’s great to see him return to the sequel and I can’t wait to see how he turns this into a musical. It’s going to be something different, that is for sure.
Joker: Folie à Deux Will Not Be Directly In James Gunn’s DC’ Universe
It’s been a pretty hot topic of discussion whether these new movies like Joker: Folie à Deux or the upcoming The Batman sequel are going to be set within the new DC universe that James Gunn is building. But the answer to that is a resounding no.
In a Twitter video that Gunn put up on his page, his confirmed that both the Joker films and The Batman films that star Robert Pattinson take place in a world called the ‘DC Elseworlds,’ where these films can reside and stay in while the main DC universe films – the ones that Gunn is working on personally like Superman: Legacy – will remain in his universe so other stories get to shine somewhere else:
The bar for an Elseworlds tale is going to be higher than the bar for a movie within the DCU. Not that we’re not always going to have a high bar, but it’s got to be something really special for us to tell that story outside of our regular continuity and to spend the money to make it.
So don’t expect to see this version of the Joker tangle with the new Batman anytime soon.
Joker: Folie A Deux Is Rated R
According to the film’s official website, Joker: Folie à Deux will be Rated R. It would be pretty shocking to see it shift to PG-13, but of course, the next movie will be for adults only. Better for a date night rather than a family movie night.
What are you the most excited for in terms of Joker: Folie à Deux? I’m sure that whatever comes to theaters on October 4, 2024, we are all going to be blown away, and I can’t wait to see the Joker and Harley Quinn back on screen in live-action form.
