The Joker and Harley Quinn have always had one of the most tumultuous, passionate and dysfunctional relationships in comic book history, and Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips has paid homage to their twisted romance by sharing some stylish new stills from his upcoming sequel.
The images spotlight Joaquin Phoenix as the returning Arthur Fleck, alongside Lady Gaga, who will play a new take on Harley.
In response to a fan, Phillips also revealed that we should expect the first trailer for the movie in mid April.
Scroll through the photos below.
Plot details are still under wraps, but recent reports indicated that the majority of the movie will be set in Arkham, and the sequel is also expected to feature musical numbers - although cinematographer Lawrence Sher downplayed the musical element in a recent interview.
“[It] isn’t a musical per se, it just has music in it. The music is part of the film and the characters but I don't know if it's a musical. But yes, there is music.”
Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir - who nabbed an Oscar for the first movie's stunning score at the 92nd Academy Awards - was asked about those musical reports during the press tour for A Haunting in Venice last year, and her response told a slightly different story.
"All I can say is there is going to be a lot of music," Guðnadóttir offered. "That's all I can give away."
While some fans are a little resistant to the idea of a follow-up to Phillips' dark psychological thriller being a musical, others have embraced the concept. We're still not sure exactly how these songs will be implemented into the story, but rumor has it that the narrative will be split between Harley and Fleck's skewed perspectives, so there's a chance the musical numbers will simply be part of the characters' delusions (Fleck imagined his entire relationship with Sofie Dummond in the first film, after all).
Whatever form the songs take, we have heard that the soundtrack will be "heavily inspired" by classic Liza Minelli musicals such as Cabaret, New York, New York, and That's Entertainment. This isn't really too surprising, since Lady Gaga is a big Minelli fan.
We still don't know if the pop megastar is actually writing the soundtrack, but we'd say there's a decent chance she'll pen at least one song for the movie.
In addition to Phoenix and Gaga, Joker 2 will see the return of Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond, along with new cast members Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland and Harry Lawtey in undisclosed roles.
The Joker sequel won't take place in the same world as the main DCU, and will be known as an "Elseworlds" project, along with Matt Reeves' The Batman movies, J.J. Abrams' Superman film, and Constantine 2 (if they happen).
Joker: Folie à deux is set to hit theaters on October 4, 2024.