Our anticipation for the Joker sequel Joker: Folie à Deux has just spiked. That's because we've got our first look at Lady Gaga's take on Harley Quinn, as she stares down Joaquin Phoenix's title character. Here's the image in question, shared via Gaga's Instagram page.
Might we be looking at the definitive iteration of this bad romance? We can see that Arthur Fleck/Joker's clown make-up is present and correct and that Quinn is carrying a look of... Fear? Desire? Apprehension? Given the twisted nature of this union, it's probably all three.
Director Todd Phillips marshals the Joker sequel, having steered the original to enormous success. Joker grossed more than $1 billion worldwide and netted Phoenix his first Oscar for Best Actor. The latter's portrayal of haunted Gotham clown Arthur was as tragic as it was disturbing, unspooling as a topical and despairing origin story of DC's most iconic villain.
'Folie à Deux' translates as 'a madness shared by two', which clearly befits Joker and Harley Quinn's deviant comic book relationship. Joker culminated in Arthur being locked up in Arkham Asylum although it's unclear how we'll proceed to his union with Harley. It's been widely reported that the Joker sequel is a musical (given Gaga's casting, that makes sense), so the surroundings of Arkham could make for a genuinely eerie twist on the genre.
Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland and Harry Lawtey round out the cast while Zazie Beetz returns from the original movie as Arthur's neighbour, Sophie Dumond.
Joker: Folie à Deux is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on October 4th, 2024, although the UK date is yet to be secured. More details when we have them.