The first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux debuted during CinemaCon last month, giving us an intriguing glimpse of some footage from Todd Phillips' DC "Elseworlds" sequel.
In what would seem to be a major change to the usual character dynamic, the teaser revealed that Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) meets Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) as a fellow patient(?) in Arkham Asylum, and it looks like she'll be the one asserting influence over him.
While speaking to Access Hollywood, Gaga teased her new interpretation of the popular Batman villain, who has generally been portrayed as more of an anti-hero in recent years.
“You know, my version of Harley is mine and it’s very authentic to this movie and these characters,” said the Oscar and Grammy Award winner. “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.”
With these movies taking place outside the main DCU continuity, there's always a chance Margot Robbie will reprise her role as the version of Quinn we met in Suicide Squad, but the Barbie star did indicate that she'd "passed on" the role to Gaga in a 2022 interview.
“It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning that all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters — the way Macbeth or Batman, always gets passed from great actor to great actor,” Robbie said. “Someone gets to do their Batman, or someone gets to do their Macbeth. It’s such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters that other actors get to have a go at playing. And I think [Gaga] will do something incredible with it.”
During the CinemaCon panel, Phillips downplayed the much-discussed musical elements somewhat.
"We never really talked about it like that, but I like to say it's a film where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn't veer too far from the first film. Arthur [Fleck]'s weird and aloof and all these things, but he has music in him. He has a grace to him. That informed a lot of the dancing in the first film. It didn't feel like that big of a step here. It's different, but I think it'll make sense when you see it."
Though not yet confirmed, it's believed that these song and dance sequences will actually be part of the shared delusions experienced by Joker and Harley (hence the title), which could explain why Phillips is hesitant to describe the film as a straight-up musical.
Whatever form the songs take, we have heard that the soundtrack will be "heavily inspired" by classic Liza Minnelli musicals such as Cabaret, New York, New York, and That's Entertainment.
We still don't know if Lady Gaga 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.
Joker: Folie à Deux is set to hit theaters on October 4, 2024. It's been rated R for, “some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity.”