When it comes to ‘Joker,‘ audiences everywhere experienced a highly emotional driven film about a man suffering from mental illness who has been pushed to his limits. Moviegoers saw what looked to be the potential birth of the Joker as he seems to be morphing towards becoming the Clown Prince of Crime. So if a sequel were to happen, you might expect to be closer to that actually occurring or even have Joaquin Phoenix already become Gotham’s most famous criminal.
Not so fast folks.
Director Todd Phillips feels that seeing Phoenix’s take on Arthur Fleck becoming the full-on enemy of Batman isn’t at all the story which he’d like to tell in a sequel.
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According to Phillips if a sequel were to happen:
“… it couldn’t just be this wild and crazy movie about the ‘Clown Prince of Crime.’ It would have to have some thematic resonance in a similar way that this does. Because I think that’s ultimately why the movie connected, it’s what’s going on underneath. So many movies are about the spark, and this is about the powder. If you could capture that again in a real way, that would be interesting.”
While it is clear that Phillips wants to continue exploring what made the first movie resonate so well with audiences, fans of the Joker are sure to be disappointed that it doesn’t appear that he’ll be fully embracing his criminal side quite yet. In fact, in a recent interview, Phoenix seemed to agree with this direction for a sequel:
“In the second or third week of shooting, I was like, ‘Todd, can you start working on a sequel? There’s way too much to explore’. It was kind of in jest — but not really.”
It sounds like the two already have an idea of a follow up which would be thematically more in line with what we’ve already experienced and not necessarily getting us closer to the Joker that older Batman fans are hoping to see.
Did you love Todd Phillips’ take on ‘Joker’? Do you feel that this sounds like the right way to do a sequel? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: LA Times
