Joker 2 seems inevitable, but Joker director Todd Phillips says he has still not talked with Joaquin Phoenix about a sequel. With over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, 2019’s Joker was a bigger hit than anyone ever could’ve expected, and Phoenix is likely headed for an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of the film’s troubled lead character Arthur Fleck.

Of course, many were shocked when Phillips was the one named to handle the Joker solo movie for DC and Warner Bros., given his prior resume of comedies like The Hangover and its sequels. But Phillips clearly had a vision for Joker, and the studio was willing to take a chance despite the darkness of that vision, which pushed the movie into R-rated territory. Much of the film’s darkness of course comes from Phoenix, who portrays Arthur Fleck as a truly disturbed individual coming into his power as a supervillain in a Gotham City plagued by urban decay and economic inequality.

Despite the huge success of the first movie, and Phoenix’s massive impact in the lead role of Fleck, a Joker sequel somewhat surprisingly still has not been officially announced. Speaking to Variety from the Palm Springs International Film Festival, director Phillips not only did not confirm sequel plans, he made it seem that he’s not yet ready to even think about such a project. When asked for a sequel update Phillips simply said, “This time I’ve spent with Joaquin here [at the festival], driving over last night, it was the first time we really hung out for awhile and we weren’t talking about that.” When further pressed on the matter, Phillips said, “We both have the same kind of mandate that I told you last time. So we’ll see.”

The “mandate” referred to by Phillips is that any ideas for a Joker sequel would have to meet his and Phoenix’s artistic standards. Rumors of a potential sequel of course began circulating quickly after the film’s huge box office debut, but early reports that something was already in development were quickly shot down. More reports emerged that instead of a Joker sequel, Phillips would be involved in developing other origin stories of DC villains (characters like Riddler and Penguin presumably) but that too has not been confirmed.

Though nothing is yet concrete when it comes to Joker 2, it seems almost certain that WB and DC will attempt some kind of follow-up, whether it’s another movie with Phoenix as Arthur Fleck – whose entire nature was of course left very ambiguous at the end of the first movie – or more villain origin stories with a similar R-rated tone. Ultimately, perhaps it would be wise for DC not to revisit Phoenix’s Joker directly but rather explore other characters in the same gritty world, either with Phillips leading the way or another filmmaker with a vision that could lead to a similarly dark but triumphant result.

More: Joker: Here’s The Deleted Scene That Proves Arthur Didn’t Kill Sophie

Source: Variety

  • Birds of Prey Release Date: 2020-02-07 Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25 The Batman Release Date: 2022-03-04 Suicide Squad 2 Release Date: 2021-08-06 Black Adam Release Date: 2022-10-21 Shazam! The Fury of the Gods Release Date: 2023-03-17 Super Pets Release Date: 2022-07-29 The Flash Movie Release Date: 2023-06-23 Aquaman 2 Release Date: 2023-12-25