While talk of a sequel to 2019's Joker has been scarce over the past year-and-a-half, it appears plans for the project are still in motion.
In a recent report from THR, it was noted that The Batman, Gotham PD, Joker and its planned sequel all exist outside of the main DC Extended Universe. While this information itself isn't new, it's the specific mention of a Joker sequel that's garnering attention.
Joker is loosely based on the DC villain of the same name and centers on Arthur Fleck, a mentally ill man who works as a for-hire clown. However, after losing his job and access to his medication, he slowly descends into madness.
The last word on a would-be sequel to Joker came from director Todd Phillips in December 2019. "When a movie does $1 billion and cost $60 million to make, of course it comes up," he said. "But Joaquin and I haven’t really decided on it. We’re open. I mean, I’d love to work with him on anything, quite frankly. So who knows? But it would have to have a real thematic resonance the way this one did, ultimately being about childhood trauma and the lack of love, and the loss of empathy. All those things are really what made this movie work for us, so we’d have to have something that had an equal thematic resonance."
The month prior to these remarks, it was reported that Phillips was in talks to return for a Joker sequel. However, that same day, another report claimed this was false, and Phillips himself soon weighed in, saying, "There's not a contract for us to even write a sequel, we've never approached Joaquin to be in a sequel."
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais and Shea Whigham.
Source: THR