It looks like there might be another sequel to “Joker,” the graphically violent film about the comic book character from 2019.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. still has plans for a “Joker” sequel. In a piece about the future of the DC Cinematic Universe, THR reported that “Joker and its planned sequel” would not be included in the new universe and take place in its own cinematic universe.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a sequel to “Joker.” Director Todd Phillips told Deadline before that there have been thoughts of a sequel but nothing concrete was decided on.
“When a movie does $1 billion and cost $60 million to make, of course it comes up,” Phillips told Deadline. “But Joaquin and I haven’t really decided on it. We’re open. I mean, I’d love to work with him on anything, quite frankly. So who knows? But it would have to have a real thematic resonance the way this one did, ultimately being about childhood trauma and the lack of love, and the loss of empathy. All those things are really what made this movie work for us, so we’d have to have something that had an equal thematic resonance.”
The sequel was reportedly greenlit back in November 2019 soon after the original’s debut, according to The Hollywood Reporter. However, Deadline said those rumors were “flat false,” adding that “no deals for a sequel, nor even any negotiations with director Todd Phillips or his co-writer Scott Silver.”
Of course, a “Joker” sequel makes sense on paper. The film earned $1 billion at the box office, reaching numbers that only DC Comics films like “Aquaman,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises” hit in the past.
The film garnered a lot of Oscar buzz with Phoenix taking home the best actor award from the Academy Awards in 2020.
But a “Joker” sequel isn’t exactly necessary. The original film told a compact story about mental health, abuse and emotional trauma. And it also highlights violence in the wake of national tragedies, like shootings in Gilroy, California, El Paso and Odessa, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
In fact, the original film brought out so much concern that the U.S. military warned of possible attacks at theaters.
“There is no easy way to tell the story of the Joker and avoid its motivating backstory — a character who has bathed in mass violence and hysteria since his inception. He isn’t one to play by the rules. He isn’t one to teach moral values. There is never a good time, nor a bad time, to release a ‘Joker’ film,” I wrote at the time of the original film’s debut. “His darkness, his thirst for chaos, corruption and craze, are too much to handle. And the film, which will tell his origin story from a realistic and grounded point of view, could inspire violence.”
If there is a sequel, let’s hope it doesn’t inspire the same reaction.