The first image of Joaquin Phoenix’s return as Arthur Fleck in Joker. Instead of seeing the Clown Prince of Crime going after his long-time enemy and vigilante of Gotham City, Joker followed a failed clown and stand-up comic called Arthur Fleck, whose descent into mental illness ends up triggering a violent revolution against the rich in a decaying Gotham City.
Phillips shared the first look at Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, which already shows how different the sequel will be from its predecessor.
Joker 2's Arkham Asylum Story Will Be A Major Sequel Difference
On December 10, 2022, Todd Phillips shared on his Instagram the first image of Arthur Fleck’s return, and he’s at a well-known place briefly seen in Joker. The image shows Arthur Fleck getting his beard shaved inside Arkham Asylum, where he was last seen at the end of Joker. Arthur has a complicated history with Arkham, as his mother, Penny (s Conroy), was institutionalized there after failing to stop the abuse from her boyfriend (and herself) on Arthur, and he was also sent there at the end of Joker.
The first image from Joker: Folie à Deux being inside Arkham confirms this will be the primary location in this new story, which not only makes sense with the ending of Joker but also the introduction of Harley Quinn, who before becoming the Joker’s accomplice and love interest, was his psychiatrist at Arkham. Of course, following Arthur Fleck now in Arkham instead of out in New York City will make a different story and character story as it will follow Arthur and his inner struggles a lot closer, rather than showing how these are affected by the outside world and viceversa.
Joker: Folie à Deux Being Different Is A Good Thing
Like with any other sequel to a highly successful movie, Joker: Folie à Deux risks repeating the same formula as Joker in order to ensure that it will also succeed, but this can easily backfire. Joker: Folie à Deux has to be different in order to stand out and repeat (or, at least, come close to) the success of the first movie, and it’s already very different as it has been revealed to be a musical. In addition to this, following Arthur and Harley inside Arkham makes it an even more personal story than its predecessor, and this Arthur Fleck will surely be very different from the one that was inspiring a revolution in Gotham while struggling with his mental health. Details about the plot of Joker: Folie à Deux are still unknown, but having Arkham Asylum as its main setting already puts it on an interesting and potentially successful path.
