"You wanna know how I got these scars?"
Joker: Folie À Deux is now in theaters, and while the ending of Todd Phillips' musical sequel has proven to be highly divisive (much like the rest of the movie), one particular moment has led to some speculation that the events of this film could connect to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.
Major spoilers follow.
Folie À Deux concludes with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) returning to serve out his sentence in Arkham after initially going on the run following a car bomb explosion outside the courtroom. Fleck catches up with Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), but when she rejects him for renouncing his Joker persona, he allows the cops to take him back to the institution.
After being told that he has a visitor, Arthur makes his way down the corridor before being stopped by a clearly unstable young inmate played by Connor Storie, who asks Fleck if he wants to hear a joke. The unnamed inmate tells a joke about a psychopath in a bar, and follows the "you get what you f*cking deserve" punchline by stabbing Arthur repeatedly in the stomach.
As Fleck bleeds out on the floor, we see the inmate carve a Glasgow Smile into his own face in the background.
It seems like a pretty blatant nod to the late Heath Ledger's take on the Joker from The Dark Knight, but is it actually supposed to be the same character? We highly doubt it - for multiple reasons. In fact, we're not even sure Phillips is directly referencing Ledger's iconic version of the villain by having Storie's character carve his own face up.
It seems more likely that the filmmaker is simply attempting to illustrate how Fleck's celebrity status has influenced the more impressionable members of society, and that even if he dies, the "Joker" monicker will continue to be taken up by others. Could Ledger's Joker be one of these people? It's possible, but something tells us Phillips wasn't being that specific.
What did you make of this moment? Let us know in the comments section down below.
From acclaimed writer/director/producer Todd Phillips comes Joker: Folie À Deux, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Academy Award-winning Joker, which earned more than $1 billion at the global box office and remains the (second) highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
The new film stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar winner Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born). The film also stars Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Catherine Keener (Get Out, Capote), alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from Joker.
The movie is rated R for “some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity.”
Do you plan on seeing the Joker sequel opening weekend? Let us know in the comments section down below.