Spoiler Alert !!!
Don’t read further unless you’re in for potentially getting ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ spoiled for yourself.
If Todd Phillips left you baffled with 2019’s Joker, then you need to be even more prepared to have your mind blown – now more than ever before, that the Joaquin Phoenix-led sequel Folie à Deux will soon be debuting on the big screens. And while this one will be bringing Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, it might also be the hub for some really groundbreaking surprises.
This is because the filmmaker’s previous foreshadowing of the scariest reality about Batman’s most formidable enemy just may have come true. A few years ago, Phillips warned the world with a teasing comment that said Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck may not actually be the true Clown Prince of Crime after all. And this upcoming film just may have undertaken that very storyline.
Todd Phillips Warned Us About Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker’s True Identity
Though a majority of his acclaimed works have been among the genres of adult comedies and R-rated comical pieces, Todd Phillips still managed to deliver perfectly when it came to the 2019 masterpiece. A major reason behind this was how he got around to immaculately incorporating the dark, violent, and intense psychological elements of the comic book character that had nothing comical about him in an incredibly mysterious and surprising milieu.
For his upcoming next, Folie à Deux, the director made no exception to these features. And yet, this time around, Joaquin Phoenix‘s character may have been trained to land an even more stunning disclosure alongside Lady Gaga‘s Harley Quinn – one that could have fans quite literally going what the f– because it is related to the very identity of the character. Apparently, Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck may not have been the real Clown Prince of Crime all along.
Phillips had teased this years ago, following the release of the 2019 chef-d’oeuvre. This foreshadowing came out in a behind-the-scenes featurette on the piece’s home release titled Vision & Fury, where he said (via CBR):
There’s many ways to look at the movie. [Arthur] might not be Joker. This is just a version of a Joker origin. It’s just the version this guy is telling in this room at a mental institution. I don’t know that he’s the most reliable narrator in the world, you know what I’m saying?
Of course, this didn’t quite hit that hard back then because, even in the comics, the Ace of Knaves doesn’t remember the origins that led him to become the unpredictable psychopathic maniac that he is. However, coming back around to the sequel and its early screening reviews, it sounds like Phillips most certainly created more than just something insightful for the character – something that fans might as well already brace themselves for.
Fans Speculate Folie à Deux May Confirm Todd Phillips’ Teaser
While the movie is yet to be released to confirm this speculation, early screening reviews and previously released deemed spoilers are already having fans believe that what Phillips foreshadowed years ago may have been all true after all. This comes especially after industry scooper @MyTimeToShineH‘s encrypted tweet on X about Folie à Deux, which read:
Effortlessly enough, this had fans launching into full-blown speculation mode as they mulled over the filmmaker’s previous teasing statement. This is evident from the tweet’s comment section, which is currently the hub for comments like:
That’s not all. While his potentially not being the real Harlequin of Hate is one thing, what further lands the blow is that Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck is also highly rumored through spoilers to be dead by the end of the film, with the real Red Hood still out there, waiting to strike and reclaim his mantle from him.
That said, fans might as well want to brace themselves for what might be Phillips’ most groundbreaking secret, even though some of them might consider it “the worst” plot twist.
Joker: Folie à Deux hits the screens on October 4, 2024.
