Joker: Folie à Deux‘s First Clip Puts Harley’s Hero Worship Front and Center

Warner Bros. released a caller clip of Joker: Folie à Deux, colloquially known arsenic Joker 2 to the francophone-adverse moviegoer, that efficaciously sets the signifier for Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn and her unhinged infatuation with Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck.

In the clip, shared during the Venice Film Festival and connected YouTube by the Upcoming, Joker’s soon-to-be spouse successful crime, Harley Quinn, reveals however she came into hero-worshipping the crash-out clown prince of Gotham. During her incarcerated confession, “Lee” reveals that she watched Fleck’s contentious speech amusement interrogation with Robert De Niro’s Murray Franklin. Not lone was she already firmly successful Fleck’s camp, she besides hoped Joker would stroke Franklin’s brains out. As if answering her prayer, helium did, prompting Lee to confess that his murderous enactment made her consciousness similar she wasn’t unsocial successful the satellite anymore earlier she trails disconnected into song: Judy Garland’s “Get Happy.” And… scene.

Considering fans’ caller trepidation astir Lady Gaga’s portrayal of Harley Quinn, the bone-chilling clip couldn’t travel astatine a amended time. In a caller interrogation with Variety, manager Todd Phillips revealed that his sequel film’s instrumentality connected the DC Comics quality would beryllium a large departure from erstwhile iterations.

“The precocious voice, that accent, the gum-chewing, and each that benignant of sassy worldly that’s successful the comics, we stripped that away,” Phillips told Variety. “We wanted her to acceptable into this satellite of Gotham that we created from the archetypal movie.”

Phillips further clarified that Gaga’s Harley Quinn is simply a antithetic instrumentality connected the quality than fans person grown accustomed to with Margot Robbie’s portrayals; successful addition, his instrumentality won’t spot her arsenic a doc successful Arkham but arsenic a chap diligent alongside Fleck.

“We tried to respect the animated series, the comics, the movies, but tally it done a truly realistic lens similar we did [in Joker,]” Phillips said.

Todd Phillips discusses Lady Gaga's instrumentality connected Harley Quinn successful #JokerFolieaDeux. https://t.co/NmOS73Xb53 pic.twitter.com/MWFx0a94QJ

— Variety (@Variety) August 20, 2024

Phillip’s sentiments connected Gaga’s Harley Quinn reflector what Robbie has said astir aboriginal tales connected the famed DC character.

“I ever wanted Harley to beryllium a quality that would get passed connected to different actresses to play, the mode determination are truthful galore iconic antheral characters. That was ever the imagination for her,” Robbie told Variety. “Harley’s truthful amusive and tin spell successful truthful galore antithetic directions. You enactment her successful idiosyncratic else’s hands, and it’s like, ‘What are they going to bash with her?’ The options are endless.”

Time volition archer whether Phillips, Phoenix, and Gaga’s clown philharmonic quality survey procedural courtroom play flick volition resonate with moviegoers the mode the archetypal movie did. Joker 2 hits theaters October 4.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.