Joker: Folie à Deux is now in theaters, and while the movie has not been embraced by the majority of fans or critics, there's no denying that director Todd Phillips clearly made the sequel he wanted to make... for better or worse.
Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver decided not to go the more obvious route of following Arthur Fleck as he fully embraced his persona as Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime, instead having Arthur take responsibility for the damage "Joker" has caused and confess to his crimes during his trial.
This alienates Lee (Lady Gaga) and the rest of his followers, and ultimately proves to be his undoing when a deranged young inmate stabs him to death in Arkham before carving a Glasgow Smile into his own face.
"Yes, this means Arthur was never really Joker in the first place; he merely served as the inspiration for the man who'd become Joker after him," confirms EW.
Phillips explained Arthur's decision during an interview with the site.
"He realized that everything is so corrupt, it’s never going to change, and the only way to fix it is to burn it all down. When those guards kill that kid in the [hospital] he realizes that dressing up in makeup, putting on this thing, it’s not changing anything. In some ways, he’s accepted the fact that he’s always been Arthur Fleck; he’s never been this thing that’s been put upon him, this idea that Gotham people put on him, that he represents. He’s an unwitting icon. This thing was placed on him, and he doesn’t want to live as a fake anymore — he wants to be who he is."
"The sad thing is, he's Arthur, and nobody cares about Arthur," he adds, noting that Lee never actually calls him by his name until she leaves him on the steps. "[She's] realizing, I’m on a whole other trip, man, you can’t be what I wanted you to be."
It seems this movie was never going to be what fans wanted it to be, either.
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.”
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