Is Joker 2 Trying To Recapture Lightning in a Bottle?

Back in 2019, Todd Phillips’s Joker hit theatres and caused a massive reaction. People across the globe loved the more human approach to one of the most twisted characters in comic book history, but many more took issue with what the film represented and the key takeaways some people walked away from the film with. Joker 2 or Joker: Folie à Deux is on its way, and it seems that the film might be interested in recapturing that same lightning in a bottle.

Reaching the same level of infamy and success won’t be an easy task, but the team behind the film has made some interesting decisions to head in the right direction. The return of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and the addition of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn are already interesting enough, but the fact that Joker 2 is set to be a musical has managed to capture the attention of the world in a similar way to the original.

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Joker Was A Huge Hit At The Box Office

At this point, most people should be aware that 2019’s Joker was a success, but those same people might not know just how much of a success it was. The beautiful-shot film cost somewhere between fifty-five and seventy million dollars to make, something that in itself might surprise some people, but what’s even more surprising is that on that measly budget, the film managed to gross over a billion dollars. To say that Joker was a success is a monumental understatement as it’s easily one of the biggest modern film successes in recent years. It just goes to show that just because a budget is low doesn't mean the end product won't be incredible. Considering the Joker only cost a tiny fraction of what it made, it really only made sense for a sequel to be greenlit as soon as humanly possible.

Taking a different route from the average comic book films that are basically a bimonthly event at this point, Joker was a psychological thriller instead of an action-packed blockbuster. The film follows the bumbling and ill Arthur Fleck as he tries to live out his dreams despite the worst of Gotham City constantly batting him to the ground. Eventually, Arthur becomes so bitter that he leads a sort of revolutionary movement throughout the city that causes the citizens to lash out with violence at those around them. While sounding simple, the dark and twisted story captivated audiences around the world, something that caused this film to be the first ever R-rated movie to gross more than a billion dollars during its theatrical run.

Critics and the controversy around the film had the potential to do damage to how much earning potential it had, and yet some negative reviews and weeks of drama might have simply helped the film. Most critics seem to view the film as a rather so-so affair, with most people openly praising just how excellent Joaquin Phoenix’s performance was, but audiences have been much happier to sing the film’s praise. It’s a dark film, and not one for everyone, so it would make sense to see people split on the film, but it seems that general audiences found the fresh take on the common comic book genre to be refreshing. It certainly couldn’t have hurt that the film focused on the Joker, one of the most famous villains in all media.

The idea behind the film was to tell a different and more grounded story, and audiences seem to agree that Todd Phillips succeeded in that goal. The choice to take a popular though controversial character and make him, to some degree, sympathetic to audiences was a bold choice, and one that created a lot of additional drama. There are plenty of stories of issues with interviews among the cast, to the point that journalists were initially uninvited from the premiere of the film. Different narratives were created about the movie before it was even released, and that is likely a major factor as to why so many people had to see this film.

Joker 2 May Not Recapture The Magic

It really does seem like everything surrounding Joker was the perfect series of events. The darker nature of the film made it unique among modern comic book movies, and the controversy created made it a thing of legend. Even when audiences and critics finally saw the film and were either underwhelmed, in love or simply thought it was a decent movie, Joker was still a major topic of conversation for months and months. All of that is exactly why Joker 2 might be striving to capture similar magic without all the added benefits.

At this point, there isn’t much question of what fans can expect from Joker 2. The film is likely to make plenty of bold decisions in order to stand out and once again capture controversy. The public decision to make it a musical and cast Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in the film was simply the initial phase of drumming up hype for the film. The problem is that audiences have experienced the depravity of the first film, and the media shine has worn off quite a bit. Without something major happening with the film in the news or a trailer releasing that absolutely shocks the world, Joker 2 might just end up being one of those weird forgotten sequels to popular films.

The fact that Joker 2 is set to be a musical signals that it inherently will not have as dark and edgy of a tone as the original. Being a musical doesn’t mean the film can’t be dark, but it will impact the way most audiences judge the movie before it is even available. Much of the movie-going audience for comic book films likely appreciated something new for the genre, but there isn’t much indication that the same audience would be willing to endure a musical. A quick look at two recent and relatively big musicals, Into The Heights and the remake of West Side Story, could both be considered to be massive flops despite star-studded teams, and that might just be the fat that Joker 2 has in store for itself.

Joker 2 is currently set to release in theatres on October 4th, 2024.

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