‘Joker 2’ First Look: Todd Phillips Posts Joaquin Phoenix in Arkham

Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is officially an Arkham Asylum inmate in the first look at the musical sequel.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” is still nearly two years away from hitting theaters, but DC fans got their best look yet at the upcoming film today. Todd Phillips The filmmaker — best known for directing “The Hangover” franchise, who received three Oscar nominations after co-writing and directing “Joker,” shared a picture of Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck while appearing to announce that the sequel has begun production.

Fans of the film will recall the final shot of 2019’s R-rated “Joker” that showed Fleck running down the halls of the asylum to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life,” leaving trails of bloody footprints, having clearly murdered another victim.

Set to be a musical, the sequel will star Lady Gaga as the Joker’s iconic love interest, Harley Quinn. Catherine Keener, Brendan Gleeson and Zazie Beetz also star in the film.

“Day 1. Our boy,” Phillips wrote in the caption, which accompanied a picture of a shirtless Phoenix being shaved by a barber at the Arkham Asylum.The image does not offer any new information about the film’s biggest question marks, namely the presence of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The “House of Gucci” star officially joined the cast of the film in August, when it was revealed that the sequel would be a musical.

While Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn look is still being kept under wraps, she already has one major advocate in her corner. Margot Robbie, who famously played the iconic villainess in three films beginning with David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad,” recently expressed her support for the recasting.“

It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning that all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters — the way Macbeth or Batman, always gets passed from great actor to great actor,” Robbie said in an interview earlier this year. “It’s such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters that other actors get to have a go at playing. And I think she’ll do something incredible with it.”

Margot Robbie — who portrayed the sadistically gleeful Quinn on-screen in 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” 2020’s “Birds of Prey” and 2021’s “The Suicide Squad” ― recently shared she’s “so happy” Lady Gaga is taking on the role of the baseball bat-wielding supervillain.

“Joker” was met with massive success at the box office upon its release, earning 11 nominations at the Academy Awards. The film won Best Original Score and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Phoenix.

Warner Bros. sequel based on the DC villain was “on the way” after the original film raked in over $1 billion.

Phillip’s musical sequel comes as the DC Universe is in the midst of a major shakeup due to leadership changes at Warner Bros., but fans of the “Joker” universe have nothing to worry about. Previous reporting has indicated that Phillips’ “Joker” films will continue to exist outside of the shared universe and newly minted DC Studios CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have been tasked with building.

‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ is currently scheduled to open in theaters on October 4, 2024.

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