WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Joker: Folie À Deux!DC Universe's slate of projects.
The emotional story of Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck and the hard-hitting drama presented in Joker made the movie a worldwide success. Joker finished its global box office run with $1.079 billion, only recently losing the crown of the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time to Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine. While it was possible before, after an abysmal opening weekend, it is all but guaranteed that Joker: Folie à Deux's ending and its negative reception being a huge factor.
Joker 2's Ending Has Caused Major Outrage
Arthur Fleck Is Not Really The Joker
While 2019's Joker was a mostly original story with DC characters and Gotham City, Joker: Folie à Deux goes a step beyond. The film has been negatively received by critics and moviegoers alike. There are many elements of the movie that have given birth to discussion, with the decision to make the DC sequel the first superhero movie musical being the biggest of them. However, the sequel's story could have saved the box office if it resonated with audiences despite fans being wary of the musical aspect, had it worked. Joker: Folie à Deux's story saw few thrilling events happen.
The REAL Joker In Joker 2 Explained
Joker: Folie A Deux continues the story of Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck, but the movie introduces another key character who becomes a second Joker.
That culminated in one of the most anticlimactic endings in superhero cinema. Joker: Folie à Deux's ending has led to fan outrage due to the decision not to make Phoenix's Arthur Fleck the Joker. The movie ends with Fleck being stabbed to death in prison by an unknown inmate at Arkham, played by Connor Storrie. The young character was influenced by Fleck, feeling betrayed when Arthur claimed the Joker was a lie, which led the Young Inmate to kill Fleck and carve out a smile on himself, hinting he would become the true Joker, which landed negatively with audiences.
Todd Phillips Revealed Exactly How Arthur's Joker Story Would End In 2019
The Sequel's Major Reveal Is Not Really A Surprise
While Joker: Folie à Deux ending with Arthur Fleck's death was quite shocking, the reveal that Phoenix's character is not the true Joker, with a younger inmate at Arkham taking his place, was not a complete surprise. The reason for that is the director of the Joker movies, Todd Phillips, already spoke about that plot twist five years ago. When the first Joker movie was released, it seemed like the film would live on as a self-contained story, which led to Phillips being at ease to describe what would now become the final scene of the franchise.
At the end of the original movie, an unknown character is inspired by Phoenix's Joker and kills Bruce Wayne's parents in an alley.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times in 2019, Phillips teased that Arthur Fleck might not be the same Joker that would go on to fight Batman. At the end of the original movie, an unknown character is inspired by Phoenix's Joker and kills Bruce Wayne's parents in an alley. As Bruce is still a kid in 2019's Joker, the age difference between him and Arthur Fleck would be way too big based on past Batman/Joker live-action portrayals. At the time, Phillips teased why that might be, saying, "Maybe Joaquin’s character inspired the Joker." Check out the full quote below:
“Maybe Joaquin’s character inspired the Joker. You don’t really know. His last line in the movie is, ‘You wouldn’t get it.’ There’s a lot going on in there that’s interesting.”
Joker's Ending Already Delivered On Joker Not Being Arthur
The DC Sequel Repeats The Original's Ending Trick
The death of Bruce Wayne's parents at the end of 2019's Joker can be considered the first major sign that the franchise was never going to make Arthur Fleck the true Joker. Other adaptations of the Clown Prince of Crime have seen the villain be the one to kill Bruce's parents and effectively create Batman. Instead of following that path, like Jack Nicholson's Joker did, Phoenix's Arthur Fleck merely served as inspiration for an unknown character to murder the Waynes. In hindsight, it could have been Phillips' way of teasing that Arthur was never becoming the Joker.
Joker: Folie à Deux repeats that point, with Fleck being shown as an inspiration to thousands. Connor Storrie's unnamed inmate was seen looking impressed by Joker's every move, but the moment Fleck chose to claim the Joker was a fantasy, the Young Inmate decided it was time to take over his idol's role and become what he could not. Like the unnamed clown that killed Bruce Wayne's parents, the Young Inmate was inspired by Arthur to take the next step, with Joker: Folie à Deux cementing that Fleck was always meant to be an inspiration for the true Joker.
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Joker
5/10- Release Date
- October 2, 2019
- Runtime
- 122 minutes
- Director
- Todd Phillips
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingRENTBUYDirected by Todd Phillips, Joker is an origin story for Batman’s most iconic villain. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a down-on-his-luck clown who is trying to become a successful stand-up comedian. When things don’t go according to plan, and Arthur feels Gotham is oppressing him and others with mental illness, Arthur sparks a violent revolution within the city.
- Writers
- Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
- Franchise(s)
- DC, Joker
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Joker: Folie a Deux
7/10- Release Date
- October 4, 2024
- Runtime
- 138 Minutes
- Director
- Todd Phillips
Cast
Arthur Fleck
Lee Quinzel
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingRENTBUYJoker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to Todd Phillips' critically acclaimed comic book thriller Joker. Reprising his Academy Award-winning performance as the failed comedian Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix revisits the iconic DC character alongside Lady Gaga, who makes her debut as Joker's lover Harley Quinn in this standalone continuity of the DC Universe.
- Writers
- Todd Phillips, Scott Silver, Bob Kane, Paul Dini, Bill Finger, Bruce Timm, Jerry Robinson
- Franchise(s)
- Joker
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