After becoming the first R-rated movie to earn more than a billion dollars at the box office, a sequel to Joker seems almost inevitable. The initial report that director Todd Phillips already met with Warner Bros. proved to be premature, which makes sense: Joker was written to be its own story with a beginning and end. "Here's the real truth about a sequel. There's not a contract for us to even write a sequel," Phillips clarified, "we've never approached Joaquin to be in a sequel." Still, he acknowledged the studio's interest in a follow-up.
If a sequel actually is made, what that might be about? The film will no doubt explore Gotham after Joker's rise, showing the character in his prime, without a true adversary. With Bruce Wayne still a child, years away from becoming Batman, the Joker will have few obstacles standing in his way from spreading chaos; he already won. Without an opponent like Batman, what's the Joker going to do in his sequel? What's the point of Joker 2 without an arch-nemesis?
The Lack of Conflict
Every film needs conflict in order to be interesting. Many people assume this conflict needs to take the form of an individual causing problems, but that's not necessarily always the case. There are many varieties of conflict out there, such as conflicts with nature, society, religion, the self, or with another person.
Joker's primary conflict is between Arthur Fleck and the society in which he lives. While this takes the form of individuals like Thomas Wayne or Murray Franklin or Gotham's failing social work system, the overall conflict is with society's apathy towards those less fortunate. By the end of Joker, this conflict is resolved by violent clown riots following their hero, Joker, by killing the rich. Society is upturned., and chaos reigns: but is it all worth it?
With Joker now a beloved icon of the poor and the oppressive society unbalanced, what more is there for Joker 2 to tell? The filmmaking itself refused to endorse Fleck's actions, but his villainous transformation was confirmed by his evil in the film's closing moments.
While it's possible to recycle the same conflict for the next film, this would be relatively unoriginal and underwhelming. If Gotham is going to round up the Joker rioters and Joker will, once again, be a hero to the poor by attacking a society that oppresses them, that's the same conflict as the prior film. It would return Gotham to the status quo of the first film, while also never building off of the Gotham we left behind.
The Fallout of Joker's Actions
Good sequels build off what happened in the prior film. They take what happened, interpret the potential fallout, and use that to build upon the previously established framework. There are two huge potential results of Joker's actions that can be analyzed in a sequel, both of which tie back to Bruce Wayne.
On the one hand, there's escalation across the board. With chaos spread throughout Gotham, Joker can't be the only disenfranchised individual hoping to take what's theirs. Of course, Joker will have his sycophants similar to Harley Quinn, who idolize Joker (at least, at first). Gotham is full of colorful characters who can pursue a career of crime, either for selfish ends or some crazy objective. The Riddler, Two-Face, Penguin—all of these characters might rise up in the wake of Arthur Fleck's movement to take what's theirs. How will these people interact with Joker? How might sharing the spotlight affect Fleck's fragile psyche?
The other result is that society will try to take back Gotham. The Gotham Police Department will logically try to reign in the rising crime rate. Perhaps a young Jim Gordon, rising in the ranks, hopes to restore order and calm to Gotham, all in order to make the city a better place. This will re-establish the conflict between society and the Joker by reversing the conflict. Joker is now the force of society, while those who were on top are now the individuals fighting him—a force larger than himself.
But both of these conflicts lead to one end: Batman.
THE INEVITABLE BATMAN
Bruce Wayne cameos in Joker as a young boy whose parents are shot dead as a direct result of Joker's riots. While Thomas Wayne's morality is questionable in the film, Bruce is an innocent kid whose life has been forever devastated by the Joker. Much like how the Waynes helped create Joker, the Joker helped create Batman.
It remains very reminiscent of Tim Burton's Batman from 1989. In that film, Jack Napier kills Bruce Wayne's parents, helping spread crime throughout the city, until crime families govern the city from the underworld. This leads to Batman rising up, putting a stop to Napier. Ironically, it results in Napier falling into a vat of chemicals, becoming the Joker.
Joker sets up this dynamic brilliantly throughout the film. Joker is crafted by the Waynes, becoming an instrument of their downfall. But in doing so, Joker creates the man who will one day be his greatest adversary. If Joker 2 were to ignore Bruce Wayne, this would result in a strangely sterile story where Joker will face no real consequences as a result of his prior actions. After all, we know it will be years before Batman comes into existence. Joker can celebrate living the high life until it all comes crashing down when Bruce dons that cowl.
While Joker could face off against organized criminals like the Penguin or the Gotham Police with Jim Gordon, neither will be as dramatically resonant as Batman fighting the Joker in Joker 2. This is even more obvious when you consider how Joker latches onto Batman in all mediums. Without Batman, the Joker's life is aimless. He lives to fight Batman in every iteration, because Batman is the most interesting aspect of Joker's life. The obsession can serve as an internal conflict, much like how Fleck's obsession with the Waynes and Murray serviced the first Joker.
But ultimately, this all begs one crucial question: what's the point of making a film where Batman fights the Joker when we're going to be getting a Batman film in two years anyway?
In 2021, The Batman will feature Batman competing against his classic rogues gallery. We will already be seeing the conflict of Batman confronting a Gotham dominated by crime. The insane Gotham Joker left at the end of his movie will be remarkably similar to the Gotham we will witness in his next film. While Joker 2 would reframe the conflict to center on his personal experiences, it's ultimately going to be the same basic story and conflict, told twice in a row.
Perhaps Todd Phillips can tell the story of Fleck's continual descent into madness in an innovative way, assuming of course he even signs on to do a sequel. While he struck lightning with Joker, maybe its best not to hope lightning strikes twice, especially with multiple Batman-adjacent films set to release in the meanwhile.