So, Joker 2 is going to be a musical. How do we feel about that?
I feel like you should know this but, to be safe, this article contains spoilers for Todd Phillips’ 2019 film “Joker.”
Joker 2, officially titled “Joker: Folie à Deux,” is an upcoming psychological thriller, a sequel to the 2019 film “Joker.” Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role as the DC Comic character the Joker, alongside Lady Gaga as she plays a never-before-seen version of Harley Quinn. The film will be released in theaters on Oct. 4, 2024, assuming there are no delays. That said, the date is coming up quickly, and we need to be mentally prepared for the movie, which has been confirmed by the composer to be a musical. Now, this may be hard to process, but audiences loved Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” so why would the sequel be so different? Before you write it off all together, let’s go over the facts that support why this movie may be great as a musical.
When we think about the 2019 “Joker,” we can recall the thriller as a story about a guy who keeps getting hit while he’s down in the gutter of life, causing him to embark on a revengeful adventure against all those who hate him, all while he continues his slow descent into madness. It’s dark, suspenseful and chaotic. I mean, when watching this movie, it is hard to understand what is real and what is happening inside the character’s head. Sometimes, he leaves reality, and we can’t tell if everyone else can hear that music in the streets, too, or if he is just dancing to his own tune.
So, when you think about it, all this confusing stuff is happening in this guy’s head. It makes sense that the sequel dives even deeper into the madness and leans even more into the absurd qualities of our main character. Let us not be mistaken:; the musical take on this must go a very specific way to make it successful. And which way might that be? Well, the musical needs to embrace the Joker’s surreal thoughts. I mean, it’s the Joker, of course; he has always been known to be a little more theatrical than other villains. What better way to show his fantasies than through song? To be sure “Joker: Folie à Deux” receives its full and rightful potential up on screen, they must focus on the man’s dreams and aspirations of being a star, along with the dark and criminal lengths he is willing to go to make sure those dreams come true.
Let’s think of it this way: by the end of the first “Joker,” we cannot trust the main character to be a reliable narrator. He has changed into such a controversial person, being a murderer and all, starting mass riots in the streets and causing Gotham to basically turn into the crime-ridden city it is known to be. I mean, we even learn that big chunks of the movie were merely figments of his imagination, which makes us second-guess everything we know about the story at this point. Overall, we are now at a spot in the story where we do not know if our narrator has been bending the story to his liking, which could mean his damaged psyche is the reason for this movie being a musical! It does sound different and new, right?
There is no denying it: musicals are a touchy subject but, honestly, so are superhero/villain movies. This means that combining the two could be enough to scare viewers away but, considering the well-crafted writing of the first film and the fact that this one has Lady Gaga in it, whatever music comes out of this will not be insignificant. We are getting something entirely new; we have already seen the Joker’s story in so many ways, so is it really that crazy to push the supervillain genre a little bit more? I mean, why not? All they have to do is make it exactly like we all want it. Easy.
Presley Zimmerman can be reached at [email protected]
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