Is "Joker: Folie á Deux" destined to put another smile on your face? We certainly think so, and we've compiled a whole list of reasons why.
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00:00Is Joker Folly Adieu destined to put another smile on your face? We certainly
00:05think so and we've compiled a whole list of reasons why. Let's start out with the
00:10obvious. Joaquin Phoenix is truly a singular force among modern-day actors.
00:15He's super selective with his projects and puts everything he has into his
00:19roles, so it's safe to assume he's striving for another Oscar with his
00:22second performance as the Joker. Is it likely that he'll receive a second
00:34nomination for playing the same character? It wouldn't be out of the
00:38question. Al Pacino received Oscar nods for his role as Michael Corleone in both
00:43The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2. And then there's Sylvester Stallone, who
00:47was nominated twice for playing Rocky Balboa. First for Best Actor in The OG
00:52Rocky, and then for Best Supporting Actor in Creed. Those were a lot further
00:56apart, but still. Even if he doesn't win again, receiving a second nomination
01:00would put Phoenix in some elite company. Regardless of what happens come award
01:05season, audiences should appreciate another Phoenix performance while they
01:08can. And what about Lady Gaga playing Harley Quinn? Could they have made a
01:14better choice? Any good comic book movie sequel has to up the ante, even if it's a
01:19serious drama, and tasking Gaga with bringing the Joker's love interest to
01:23life is a no-brainer. She's definitely won a few more Grammys than she has
01:28Oscars, but hey, how many stars can say they have both statues chilling on their
01:32mantles at home? After seeing her shine in her music-centric role as Allie in A
01:36Star is Born, we have no doubt she'll harness all of her strengths for Foley
01:41Ado. Which, as we're all aware of by this point, is a musical. More on that in a
01:46second. There have been numerous versions of Harley Quinn since she was
01:49first brought to life in Batman the Animated Series.
01:58As far as live-action iterations go, most people probably correlate the character
02:03with Margot Robbie, who donned the iconic pigtails in both Suicide Squad films and
02:08Birds of Prey.
02:09You know, psychologically speaking, vengeance rarely
02:13brings the catharsis we hope for.
02:15So how will Gaga's interpretation compare? From what we've seen in the
02:19trailers, it should be a far cry from Robbie's, which makes the movie as a
02:23whole all the more enticing. Todd Phillips has spoken about how Lady Gaga's
02:27Harley Quinn is darker than most people probably imagine, with this iteration
02:31drawing inspiration from Charles Manson and his followers. We're not entirely
02:35sure how that's going to manifest on screen, but let's just say we're stoked
02:39to find out. Okay, back to the musical thing. It's true, Foley Ado is
02:45straight-up a musical. More specifically, a jukebox musical with 15 already
02:51existing songs reportedly included in the movie. There's also the possibility
02:55of an original song or two entering the mix, but we'll have to wait and see if
02:59that rings true when it finally hits theaters. It's understandable if some
03:03are skeptical about this. Probably one of the most divisive genres out there is
03:08the musical. But don't forget, the first Joker was a huge risk itself. It took a
03:13well-known villain who's already seen numerous interpretations and basically
03:17inserted him into Taxi Driver. It functioned as a way to do something new
03:21with the source material beyond the typical superhero blockbusters, and Todd
03:25Phillips pulled it off perfectly. Joker 2 is now doing the same thing by infusing
03:30those Taxi Driver sensibilities with full-blown musical numbers, harkening
03:34back to yet another era of Hollywood that far too many are willing to
03:38overlook. Musicals are sort of making a comeback. Remember that Wonka became one
03:42of 2023's surprise hits, and Wicked comes out later this year.
03:47You're green. I am. That being said, Fully Ado may get people who wouldn't normally
03:55see a musical to sit down and actually watch one. And that could get them
03:59interested in seeking out others, which would be a fantastic outcome for all of
04:03this. Another cool thing to consider is the bigger picture and how Fully Ado is
04:08poised to expand this particular Batman universe. 2019's Joker planted the seeds
04:14for this. It may have foregone traditional comic book movie
04:17sensibilities, but it still had a ton of Easter eggs for DC fans to pick up on.
04:22The film has references to everything from Batman the Animated Series to The
04:26Killing Joke, along with Arthur Fleck coming face-to-face with a young Bruce
04:30Wayne. Get away from that man. It's okay, I'm a good guy. One would imagine Fully
04:37Ado will have plenty of these too, and it could go even further in fleshing out
04:41this version of Gotham City. If you're not a subtitles person, you may have
04:45missed an iconic Batman villain in the latest trailer, being that he's speaking
04:49off-screen. They believe Arthur Fleck to be some kind of martyr. Yep, that's the
04:56voice of none other than Harvey Dent. His inclusion makes sense given his career
05:00path as a district attorney, and it looks like Arthur Fleck's going on trial in
05:04this film. Whether Dent becomes the villainous Two-Face during its runtime
05:08remains to be seen, but this shows that the sequel is willing to bring in other
05:12Batman characters. Some would be natural fits. James Gordon could very easily enter
05:17the story as disillusioned Gothamites continue to clash with the Gotham Police
05:21Department. Hugo Strange could also make an appearance, with Arthur and Harley
05:25being locked up for a period of time. This is wishful thinking, but it could be
05:30an opportunity to showcase new takes on these well-known characters. And even if
05:35they don't find a way to meaningfully fit them all in this time around, there's
05:39always the next installment. We're here for it.
05:42Something else to consider is that Foliadue is DC's only live-action entry
05:47for 2024, which is definitely a good thing. Looking at the biggest box office
05:52bombs of 2023, it's a bit concerning that DC movies appear multiple times on the
05:57list. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost
06:03Kingdom all earned a spot. That's what I call a total success. Yeah, it was pretty
06:11bad. There are many possible reasons why these movies failed to make an impact.
06:15You could certainly blame superhero fatigue, that's an obvious one. You could
06:19also blame the announcement that James Gunn and Peter Safran were rebooting the
06:22entire DC Film Universe. It's pretty hard to care when you know that there's no
06:27future beyond the credits that awaits you in T-minus two-ish hours. Either way,
06:32DC needed to take a breather. Can we please just take a minute? Sorry, but bro,
06:38of course! Having only one movie this year, let alone one that's a sequel to a
06:43billion-dollar hit, might be the right move. It makes it feel more like an event
06:47rather than a homework assignment for a test that'll no longer come. The MCU went
06:52the same route. Deadpool and Wolverine is the only MCU flick this year, and it
06:57worked out pretty well. You know, surpassing Joker to become the highest
07:00grossing R-rated film of all time and all? Let's f***ing go. Speaking of being R-rated,
07:07it's a relief to know that Folia Do falls in this category like its
07:10predecessor. The superhero fatigue thing is real, and a big part of it is that
07:15audiences have gotten tired of the same old approach that both Marvel and DC
07:19subscribed to for the longest time. Epic CGI-laden action generously sprinkled
07:25with predictable PG-13 humor. This is why movies like Logan and Joker proved to be
07:30so successful. They offer darker, more thoughtful takes on the genre while
07:34still staying true to the characters themselves. Folia Do could easily reach
07:38the same heights, being that it's a direct continuation of Joker. But beyond
07:42that, it's set to be a very idiosyncratic R-rated film, what with it being a
07:47musical and all. We haven't seen a superhero musical in decades, and R-rated
07:52musicals in general are hard to come by. So it goes without saying that Folia Do
07:56is set to upset just about every norm possible, and it's more than obvious that
08:01audiences are ready to give it a chance for the sake of being pleasantly
08:05surprised in theaters again after a long drought. One of the reasons we're beyond
08:09stoked for Folia Do is that Hildur Gunnlaughter is returning for
08:14Will she win an Oscar again? Hard to say for sure, but being that this
08:19installment is a musical, it's likely she'll have even more chances to shine.
08:23The music for Joker was an integral component of the film, often guiding what
08:27happened in each respective scene. As Gunnlaughter told The Hollywood
08:32Reporter in 2023,
08:43One could surmise a similar process would follow for Joker 2, especially with
08:51the music being far more front and center. Also worth noting is that the
08:55already existing songs reportedly won't be simple karaoke versions. Variety spoke
09:00with a source close to the sequel who said Gunnlaughter will be applying
09:03her own style to these numbers, a very exciting notion indeed. Also returning
09:09for Folia Do is cinematographer Laurence Schur. He received an Oscar
09:13nomination for his work on the first Joker, but lost out to Roger Deakins for
09:171917. The sequel could be his shot to win the award, even if he has stiff
09:22competition from the likes of Greg Fraser for Dune Part 2. Many fans on X
09:27have praised what they've seen from the movie so far based on the trailers. One
09:31user summed it all up by writing,
09:39God, I cannot wait to see this in theaters. Schur himself told YouTuber
09:45Maddy Hapoya that Francis Ford Coppola's musical One from the Heart was an
09:49inspiration for the look of the Joker follow-up. He explained that he broke
09:53down scenes from the movie and used screenshots as jumping-off points for
09:57his own shooting. They became a conversation starter for me and Mark
10:01Friedberg, the production designer, and Todd as we scouted in those early days.
10:05Since Folia Do will have musical components, it makes sense to draw from
10:09musicals of the past, even one that was overlooked in its time like One from
10:13the Heart. With both Folia Do and Coppola's new film Megalopolis coming
10:17out so close together, it may inspire more people to check it out. The ending
10:22of the original Joker calls into question what really happened, as it's
10:26unclear what's real and what's part of Arthur's delusion. But certain plot
10:30points did in fact happen, such as Arthur really killing someone live on air. The
10:35sequel will take place two years after the first installment, with Arthur going
10:39to trial and potentially getting sentenced to death for his crimes. Being
10:43that Joker has somewhat of an open ending, the question is how much of Folia
10:47Do will end up being a delusion, especially when it comes to this
10:51burgeoning relationship with Harley Quinn. Variety recently received another
10:55intriguing piece of information that could explain their dynamic. He's drawn
10:58to romantic ballads. She prefers music about power. So it's possible Arthur is
11:03so deluded in his relationship with Harley that he fails to see that she's
11:07using him for some grander machination. But that's just speculation for the time
11:12being. With Arthur's life on the line, it's possible Folia Do could have a
11:16straightforward finale where he dies, while the movement he inspired continues
11:21to grow. Or perhaps people only think he dies, but he's still around in some form.
11:26Whatever the case, the ending will likely get people talking and pining for a
11:30third installment. Rest assured, we'll be here to discuss when it finally reaches
11:35theaters.