Joker 2 has been confirmed. And guess who’s returning?
Yes, you got that right. Joaquin Phoenix is reprising his role as the iconic villain.
The exciting news came in as Todd Phillips, the film’s director, took to Instagram to share a photograph of the script which read “JOKER Folie à Deux written by Scott Silver and Todd Phillips.” Folie à Deux is translated from French as “the shared madness of two.”
The announcement that Phoenix will return to the big screen was revealed on the next slide of Phillip’s Instagram post where The Joker actor is seen reading the script.
Phoenix, who won the Best Actor Oscar in 2020 for his role in the 2019 film, went through quite a lot in his preparation to perform as Arthur Fleck.
But, Phoenix wasn’t the only one. The role is famously known to be difficult, for each and every actor who has reprised the role, to escape from, especially Heath Ledger, who died from an accidental drug overdose.
Phoenix came out about his difficulty separating his work life from his home life while filming for the role: “At the end of the night, there was never really an end. It stayed with me every night after work for another two or three hours. I never felt this moment of being done with my work day… I didn’t socialize at all. The person I interacted with was director Todd Phillips. That became my world. It was nonstop,” he said, as per Looper.
It’s safe to say that saying yes to reprising the role of The Joker most certainly shows the actor is ready to give his all, especially because Phoenix knows going into the role will affect his mental state…
And his weight.
“It’s a horrible, brutal diet, but you get all the vitamins and minerals, so you’re like safe. It’s grotesque,” he said.
But, this hasn’t altered the actor’s perception of his character, as he expresses that even with the hardship of the role, many rewards are reaped: “I want to say it was super hard,” he said. “But it was so inspiring, that as much energy I put into it, the role gave it back. I would go home after work and we would just talk about the next scene. I was just super excited. I would show up at set two hours early to just sit in the trailer and talk about it,” he expressed.
So what is The Joker a Shared Madness of Two about?
Well, there have been no revealed details yet. But, it doesn’t stop people from speculating about the plot.
One person took to Twitter to say that William Dafoe as a “Joker imposter” would be a great plot: “This….would actually be a great plot for Joker 2. Introduce Defoe as another ‘Joker’ and call into question whether Arthur really is the Joker,” they wrote.
But, others are speculating, as per LADbible, that another “well-known” DC character will be appearing in the second movie, and they’ll have close ties to The Joker.
