Joaquin Phoenix nailed his role as Arthur Fleck in the first Joker movie released in 2019, and director Todd Phillips received a ton of praise for how well put together the storyline was in the pilot film. Having grossed over a billion dollars at the box office, its surprise success put a lot of pressure on Phillips to impress DC’s audience with a sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux.
But if there’s one thing filmmakers and writers need to learn, it’s that comic book nerds tend to scrutinize movie adaptations a lot more than the generic audience. The same goes for avid book readers as well. The second installment was a complete deviation from what the Joker’s storyline stands for, and a musical was not what fans wanted.
This has to be an embarrassing situation for Phillips, especially Phoenix, who worked extremely hard to pull off the Arthur Fleck character. And while the members of the Joker storyline absorb all the negativity, DC Studios has been putting out a bunch of other projects that make Joker look like a complete failure.
Colin Farrell’s The Penguin puts Joaquin Phoenix to shame drawing comparisons to another DC icon
Over the years, DC Comics has had a bunch of stars pull off roles of its iconic superheroes and villains. Heath Ledger, who unfortunately passed away in 2008, acted as the Joker in The Dark Knight movie.
Christian Bale and Ledger’s run as Batman and Joker is still widely revered as the best version of the masked vigilante’s saga. And recently, DC Entertainment and HBO introduced The Penguin, a series featuring Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, one of Batman’s most enduring foes.
HBO has only released three episodes and fans have only praised Farrell’s excellent portrayal of the mobster. Here’s what fans have had to say online:
Never really thought much Colin Farrell as an actor but I have to say his performance in #ThePenguin is hands down one of the best I’ve seen. Hot take: Better than Heath Ledger as the Joker 🧐 pic.twitter.com/qh1SueE5vh
— Yaba DELUXE 👑 NRN (@YabaDeluxe) October 9, 2024
THE PENGUIN is an absolutely dynamite show and Episode 3 was a stunner. All three leads, incredible. Colin Farrell, like Heath Ledger, is creating the definitive screen version of this character. pic.twitter.com/7xT9SfndkV
— Don Kaye (donkaye.bsky.social) (@donkaye) October 11, 2024
Colin Farrells’ performance as #ThePenguin is 100% up there with the likes of Heath Ledger as the Joker. He absolutely KILLS it in this role he has such presence when he’s on Screen, one of the best villains in Movie/tv history, IMO. pic.twitter.com/GVYgcfMz5I
— Professorfunko (@ProffesorFunko) October 14, 2024
We’re witnessing a Heath Ledger level performance with The Penguin
Colin Farrell’s performance is a new career high and it’s a comic book character, we love to see it 🦇#ThePenguin pic.twitter.com/jDSIanX5q0
— BLURAYANGEL 🦇 (@blurayangel) October 14, 2024
Drawing comparisons to Health Ledger’s Joker isn’t something to take lightly, as DC fans have high regard for the deceased actor’s version of the antagonist in the Batman saga.
When Joaquin Phoenix initially debuted as the Joker, the 49-year-old actor was praised for saving DC from the horrendous reviews Jared Leto’s rendition of the character received. But Farrell’s The Penguin is doing exactly what Phoenix’s DC debut did to Leto in 2019.
A Box Office Editor blames Todd Phillips for Joker: Folie à Deux’s setbacks
It’s still confusing why Todd Phillips chose to deviate from the nature of the Joker’s story to make Joker: Folie à Deux a musical. In all honesty, it could’ve been due to the pressure of trying to match what he did with the first movie.
Charles Gant, a box office editor at the Screen International had a good explanation of why the movie tanked. According to The Guardian, Gant said,
The mantra in Hollywood is always to offer audiences the same, but different. With Joker: Folie à Deux, it seems like Todd Phillips offered the wrong kind of different.
Gant also suggested that Phillips’ decision to deliver the story in a “different” way might push fans to believe they liked the initial movie for all the wrong reasons. Phillips’ decision to make Joker: Folie à Deux a musical only alienates the core fanbase that would’ve rather seen a much more sinister version of the film, which is why its reviews are terrible right now.
With the movie on the brink of losing millions, Warner Bros announced that Joker: Folie à Deux will soon be available on streaming platforms. As per The Guardian, the movie is already set to lose between $125 million to $200 million, and online streaming could help reduce the damage Joaquin Phoenix’s movie is set to endure.
