‘Joker 2’ Images — Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga Fall in Twisted Love

The Big Picture

• Joker: Folie à Deux
  follows Arthur Fleck’s journey post-first movie’s deadly events.
• The sequel includes Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, director and screenwriter Todd Phillips.
• The jukebox musical hits theaters this October.

Now that the trailer is out, there’s no escaping it. We’re officially in the Joker: Folie à Deux era. The movie is still a few months away, but fans of the story have been waiting for this sequel ever since it was first announced all the way back in 2019. The story will chronicle Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) journey after the deadly events he put in motion in the first movie. Now, he’ll meet Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) and they’ll have a romantic and mutually destructive relationship.

We had already seen bits and pieces of Joker 2 over the last few months — most notably the first photo of Phoenix and Gaga in character — but what really sent us back to that world was the first teaser that showed Fleck laughing in the rain. Even though the idea of a Joker sequel might give some fans pause since the first one felt like pretty much a standalone feature, there are plenty of reasons to believe. Phoenix consistently delivers top-tier performances, and Gaga has also proven she can be a heck of a performer, especially when well directed.

The new images underscore that the visuals will once again be a standout in the movie. It looks like we’ll get a repeat of the staircase dancing scene, but it’s possible that the Joker 2 team will also try to outdo it in some way. Musical moments have already been teased, and considering Gaga’s background, this might be the most musical version of Harley Quinn that we’ll get.

Who Is The Team Behind ‘Joker 2?’

It’s also great that director Todd Phillips returned to helm the sequel. He once again partnered up with Scott Silver (8 Mile) to write the script, so this suggests the team was committed to coming together to deliver a sequel worthy of the original.

Aside from Phoenix and Gaga, the cast of Joker: Folie à Deux also features Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Catherine Keener (The Adam Project), Jacob Lofland (The Son), Ken Leung (Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Steve Coogan (The Lost King).

Joker: Folie à Deux premieres in theaters on October 4. Check out new images from the film above.

Should Joker: Folie à Deux repeat the success of its previous installments, it would be the type of movie that brings cinephiles and casual viewers together. The first one was not only a box office hit, with over a billion dollars raked in at the global box office, but it also received eleven Oscar nominations, and earned Phoenix a statue for his performance.