If you’re hoping to see a sequel to Todd Phillip’s Joker, you might be out of luck. After a recent Joker screening in the City of Angels, Phillips revealed to those in attendance he and the studio “have no plan for a sequel.”
Speaking at an early Joker screening, Phillips provided additional context for his previous statement, saying “The quote was, ‘I will do anything Joaquin wants to do. And I would. But the movie’s not set up to [have] a sequel”. He added that Joker was “always pitched” as a single film and nothing more.
Phillips’ initial comments in the Total Film piece read as such, “If he was willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and Warners came to us and said, ‘You know what? If you guys could think of something…’ Well, I have a feeling that he and I could think of something pretty cool.”
Written by Phillips and Scott Silver (The Fighter), Joker plays fast and loose with its DC mythology, delivering an all-new origin story for the titular Batman super-villain in the process. Because the film isn’t beholden to any previous DC movies, Joker is free to provide a comparatively grounded explanation for how its main character, Arthur Fleck, transforms into the Clown Prince – from his makeup-clad face to the mental illness that fuels his spontaneous laughter. And although a sequel is still possible, as Phillips has admitted, it’s clearly not something he and Phoenix were actively considering while making the movie. Indeed, making a followup to Joker goes against the whole idea of launching a unique Elseworlds-inspired banner for experimental DC adaptations in the first place.
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais and Shea Whigham. The film arrives in theaters Oct. 4.
