There were rumblings for a while that Harvey Dent might make an appearance in Joker: Folie à Deux, and a recently released TV spot confirmed Harry Lawtey (Industry) is indeed playing the Gotham City DA.
With so much of this sequel set to play out in the courtroom, common sense surely dictates that we'll see the moment Dent is attacked and transformed into the twisted Two-Face. Now so, according to filmmaker Todd Phillips.
"We respect the comics. We get the comics," he tells IGN. "In Harley's case, we watched the animated series. Of course, Margot Robbie is Harley Quinn. But when we run things through this film — Harvey Dent is a perfect example. It's actually a simpler way of talking about what we did with Harley, which was really just put the real-world lens on it, and not that other movies didn't, but just run it through our Gotham."
"And so really, the Harvey Dent you meet in here [played by Harry Lawtey] is not a huge part, but if you're going to have a trial, why wouldn't you have the Assistant DA prosecuting Arthur Fleck be Harvey Dent?" Phillips adds. "But it's not about his – we don't really reveal his dark side. We see a young Harvey Dent."
With no plans for a Joker 3, it appears we'll be left to imagine what the future holds in store for Dent and Bruce Wayne, Gotham City's future Batman.
Joker made it clear that Phillips' movies aren't meant as direct adaptations of the comics, so the fact this sequel borrows more familiar names from the source material is more a way of fleshing out Gotham City than it is a sign we'll wrap things up with Batman fighting Arthur Fleck!
In the same interview, the writer and director elaborated on how Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel we never expected to see, came to be.
"Joaquin jokingly was like, 'We could have shot for three more months,' on the first movie I'm talking about. And I felt the same way. Again, normally I'm like, 'Get me the f**k out of here, get me to the editing room and let's go figure out what this is,'" Phillips explains. "But on Joker 1, we just loved Arthur, and I know Joaquin did as well."
"Joaquin and I really started talking about a sequel probably on day 30 of the 55-day shoot on the first film, and half of it was joking and half of it wasn't. And we would just kind of do it to make each other laugh and say, 'Well, what if we did this? What if we did that?'"
He adds, "And then, of course, the movie came out. The movie was sort of embraced by people, and people loved Arthur as much as Joaquin and I loved Arthur."
Joker: Folie À Deux finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.
The sequel 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 movie also features Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Catherine Keener (Get Out), alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from Joker.
Joker: Folie À Deux arrives in theaters on October 4.