While Joker was a record-breaking $1 billion hit in 2019, few DC fans expected it to get a sequel. For starters, it appeared to be designed as a standalone origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime, free from connections to the wider DC Universe and, most strikingly, Batman.
There's a chance the young Bruce Wayne will suit up for a confrontation with Arthur Fleck somewhere down the line, of course, but in Joker: Folie à Deux, the spotlight will be on Harley Quinn (who is expected to have a new name in this sequel).
Deadline recently spoke with casting director Francine Maisler (Dune, Challengers) and she made it clear Lady Gaga's take on The Joker's partner in crime has exceeded all expectations.
"She’s so good in it, you guys," Maisler teased. "She’s going to blow your mind. I didn’t suggest Lady Gaga. It wasn’t my idea. That was Todd Phillips, before me. But I will tell you, she’s really surprising - and really good. I saw it and I was really surprised."
"I mean, we all knew what she could do in A Star is Born, but I thought, 'Oh, well, that’s kind of in her wheelhouse.' Something she could do and just be real. But this...Man, she’s good. Joaquin blows your mind, but that she could keep up with him, and be real - and not just wiped off the screen by what that role is and what the performance is - shows she’s good," she concluded.
That's one heck of an endorsement and it sounds like we're in store for something special in a movie previously described as a "jukebox musical." That suggests both Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga will sing, though the importance of that element to the movie's plot is undetermined.
"You know, my version of Harley is mine and it’s very authentic to this movie and these characters," Gaga, an Oscar and Grammy Award winner, said in a recent interview. "I’ve never done anything like I’ve done in this movie before, so it’s all going to be completely brand new and really fun."
Margot Robbie played Harley Quinn in the DC Extended Universe and DC Studios boss James Gunn has strongly hinted we'll see her back in the role. As for Gaga's version, we'd imagine this will be a one-off role for the singer and actress unless filmmaker Todd Phillips has threequel plans.
Joker: Folie à Deux, which will fall under the "Elseworlds" banner and isn't part of DC Studios' new DCU, arrives in theaters on October 4, 2024, exactly five years after Joker debuted.