New “Joker: Folie à Deux” Images Tease a Twisted Romance And a Famous Dance
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, which means Joker: Folie à Deux co-writer/director Todd Phillips was duty bound to share a few new photos of the most twisted romantic partners in the game.
Phillips took to Instagram to share three new photos of DC’s most murderous lovebirds, Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) and his main squeeze, Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). The photos include the moody, featured image, a shot from what appears to be Arkham Asylum (or prison), and a third shot of the two all dressed up and dancing on a rooftop, an homage to a famous image created by artist Alex Ross, “Tango With Evil.” They offer a little guidance, but not much, as to what Phillips, Phoenix, Gaga, and the Joker crew are cooking up in their upcoming sequel.
What we do know is Folie à Deux 2019’s Joker, the first live-action theatrical film within the Batman umbrella to receive an R-rating, and had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it took home the top prize, the Golden Lion. From there, it conquered the box office and became a lightning rod of conversation within the film world and the broader culture. Joker was a film you couldn’t ignore, and Phoenix’s performance was unlike anything we’d seen in a superhero movie, or in this case, a supervillain movie. He went on to win an Oscar for Best Actor. So those are fairly big clown shoes to fill.
The last time we left Arthur at the end of Joker, he’d just gone on a killing spree in Gotham and, in the process, became a folk hero to the downtrodden, poverty-stricken denizens of the crime-ridden, perpetually gloomy metropolis. Having taken on the alter ego of the Joker, Arthur capped off his rampage with an appearance on Murray Franklin’s (Robert De Niro) TV show and shot the man dead on live TV. Gotham responded with an orgy of violence, which included the murders of two of its most prominent citizens, Thomas (Brett Cullen) and Martha Wayne (Carrie Louise Putrello)—they left behind a young son, wouldn’t you know. The film ends with Arthur locked up in a mental asylum, and there’s an insinuation there that he kills the psychiatrist working with him—it’s not shown, but he has bloody footprints as he leaves a session with her, and we see him being chased shortly thereafter.
How Phillips and his co-writer Scott Silver advance the story from here is anybody’s guess, but we know that Folie à Deux will make the most out of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. We also know that the title Folie à Deux refers to a medical term for two or more people suffering from the same or similar mental disorder; presumably, this would be Arthur and Harley. We also know the film has been teased as a musical and includes the return of Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond and the arrival of powerhouse performers like Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener. The rest is pure speculation, with the script locked up in Arkham Asylum for the foreseeable future.
Joker: Folie à Deux hits theaters on October 4, 2024.
Check out Phillips’ Instagram images here:
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For more on Joker: Folie a Deux, check out these stories:
New “Joker: Folie à Deux” Image Finds Joaquin Phoenix Soaked But Serene
First Look at Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in “Joker: Folie à Deux” Revealed
First “Joker 2” Image Reveals Return of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck
Featured image: Lady Gaga is Harley Quinn and Joaquin Phoenix is the Joker in “Joker: Folie á Deux.” Courtesy Todd Phillips/Warner Bros.
