Joker: Folie à Deux appears to feature multiple Clown Princes of Crime.
Photos taken from the set of director Todd Phillips' Joker (2019) sequel show star Joaquin Phoenix in character as Arthur Fleck/Joker, except he is not alone. While Phoenix wears a dirty suit and his Joker makeup is all messed up, he can be seen alongside another actor dressed how Arthur appears at the end of the original film, wearing a bright red suit with green hair and clown makeup. Other photos captured show Phoenix running away from this other Joker and someone else, but whether the third person is another Joker, a cast or crew member is unclear based on the available images.
These are not the first images to surface from the set of Joker: Folie à Deux either. The first Joker ended with Arthur Fleck incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, but other photos from the sequel's set reveal that he will be free in Gotham once more, with the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) about the streets as well. Arthur's classic Joker appearance from the original film was seen in these other images, but with the revelation that more than one Joker has been spotted on set, it is possible that Phoenix was not under the makeup.
Joker 2 Casts Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn
While Phoenix will not be the only Joker in Folie à Deux, he won't be the only iconic DC clown in the movie either. Singer-actor Lady Gaga has been cast as Harley Quinn in the sequel, the Joker's girlfriend in comics and other media. On Feb. 14 as a Valentine's Day present for fans, Phillips shared a first look at Gaga as Harley Quinn. The image showed her up close for an intimate shot with Phoenix, his makeup similarly smudged like in the set photos that have surfaced.
Joker 2 Is a Musical Love Story Outside the Main DCU
According to a Joker: Folie à Deux synopsis, the movie will follow Harley's classic origin as an Arkham psychiatrist who falls in love with the Joker within the asylum, except that this love story will be a movie musical instead. The synopsis simply reads, "The musical sequel follows Harley Quinn the Arkham Asylum shrink who falls in love with her patient Arthur Fleck aka Joker." Despite this, another report claims that Gaga's version of Harley Quinn will instead be a patient in Arkham alongside Arthur instead, and that the Joker sequel is filming multiple endings.
Joker: Folie à Deux will fall under DC's Elseworlds banner. Despite DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran mapping out a multi-year plan of various projects for the connected DC Universe, others like Joker and director Matt Reeves' The Batman franchise will exist in their own universes. Joker: Folie à Deux is slated to release in theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.