Joker 2, technically titled Joker: Folie à Deux, is just a couple of weeks away, and the final trailer has arrived to try and seal the deal for potential audience goers who are still on the fence about whether a “jukebox” musical is how they want to see the Batman villain’s story enter its next phase.
The final trailer shows Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn serenading Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck with a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” as he goes to court to put the society that cast him out on trial for his derangement. “They’re all going crazy for you,” Quinn tells Fleck, seemingly referencing riots that have broken out across the country following the events of the first movie. Later in court, Fleck rebuts a witness on the stand. “You don’t think this is me?” he says. “Well maybe, maybe you don’t know who I really was.”
If Joker: Folie à Deux has some tricks up its sleeve, it’s hidden them very high up. While the first Joker was a new spin on the villain’s origin story fused with contemporary societal angst, the sequel will have to stand on its own two feet and potentially offer fans something more than just a deeper dive into the depraved psyche of its central character. Without a Batman to play off of, Gaga will have a lot to shoulder in terms of being a foil, rather than just a love interest or enabler, for the Joker.
The sequel hits theaters October 4 and continues a steady march of comic book movies this year, beginning with the much maligned Madame Web, peaking with the box office juggernaut Deadpool & Wolverine, and continuing on now into the fall with Joker: Folie à Deux, Venom: The Last Dance, and Kraven the Hunter. The good news is that if you don’t have the time or can’t afford to see them in theaters, you can binge them all this holiday season on streaming.
