Culture

‘Joker 2’ Could Be A Musical Featuring Lady Gaga As Harley Quinn

Joaquin Phoenix will reprise his role as the patron saint of incels.

by Charles Rushforth  14 June 2022

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Last week, fans of 2019’s highly divisive comic book villain origin story were treated to pictures of director Todd Phillips’s finished script for a sequel titled Joker 2: Folie à Deux.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker could be joined by none other than Lady Gaga in the upcoming sequel, with sources claiming that the film is also currently being floated as a musical.

The French title roughly translates to ‘shared delusions between two people’, and refers to Lady Gaga’s decision to star in the film is being hyped as proof that the film will focus on Gotham criminal psychologist Harleen Quinzel. In comic canon, Quinzel eventually turns into super villain Harley Quinn through her abusive and toxic relationship with the Joker.

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With the film being in such early stages of production, it would be foolish to assume that any of these details are a certainty, with The Hollywood Reporter stressing that Gaga is only in ‘early talks’ to appear in the film.

For those who missed the original flick, Joker re-imagines Batman’s main antagonist as failed comedian Arthur Fleck, following his descent into madness amid the decrepitude of 1980s New York City. In contrast to the trashy action stylings of 2016’s Suicide Squad, Joker won critical acclaim for cinematography and tone inspired by early Martin Scorsese movies such as Taxi Driver and Kings of Comedy.

While the movie became the fourth highest grossing R-rated film of all time, critics were divided as to whether the film’s portrayal of mental illness was empowering or misinformed. Time film critic Stephanie Zacharek wrote that Phoenix’s Joker could “easily be adopted as the patron saint of incels”.

In any case, the internet’s reaction to Lady Gaga’s involvement in the film has been good for a couple of belly laughs.