In this October's Joker: Folie À Deux, we'll find Arthur Fleck locked up in Arkham Asylum and facing the death penalty. However, when he meets a Joker-obsessed patient called Harleen "Lee" Quinzel, a twisted, musical romance follows.
Understandably, many fans are disappointed that the Joker sequel is again taking major liberties with the source material; for starters, the Harleen on the page is a psychiatrist who falls under the Clown Prince of Crime's spell, not a fellow inmate.
While this version won't be the Harley Quinn we know from the comics, we do have a great new look at Lady Gaga's take on the villain (alongside Joaquin Phoenix's Joker) thanks to a new magazine cover.
"[Director] Todd [Phillips] took a very big swing with this whole concept and with the script, giving the sequel to 'Joker' this audacity and complexity," Gaga recently told Variety. "There’s music, there’s dance, it’s a drama, it’s also a courtroom drama, it’s a comedy, it’s happy, it’s sad."
"It’s a testament to [Todd] as a director, that he would rather be creative than just tell a traditional story of love," the singer and actor continued. "We asked ourselves what would need to be true for two people to just break into song in the middle of a conversation?"
"Where does the music come from when no one can hear it but the characters? Neither Arthur nor Lee are professional singers, and they shouldn’t sound like they are," Gaga concluded.
Addressing the Joker sequel's approach to Harley Quinn, Phillips said, "The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away. We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie."
Margot Robbie played that version of Harley in the DCEU, so the fact we're getting something new with this movie could be something fans ultimately embrace. We'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out in October.
Take a closer look at Joker: Folie À Deux's Joker and "Lee" in the X posts below.
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.
Phillips, who was nominated for Oscars for directing, writing and producing Joker, directed Joker: Folie À Deux from a screenplay by fellow Oscar nominee Scott Silver & Phillips, based on characters from DC. This follow-up was produced by Phillips, Oscar nominee Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Joseph Garner. Lady Gaga served as music consultant.
Joker: Folie À Deux arrives in theaters on October 4.