Joker 2 crew release a photo unveiling Lady Gaga’s first shot with Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker as Harley Quinn…or is it?
Director Todd Philips released on his Instagram page a photo of Gaga and Phoenix in an intimate pose. Phoenix, as Arthur Fleck/Joker is in smudged makeup similar to what he had worn in the first film. At this point, viewers can only speculate this is taking place in Arkham Asylum, which points Gaga’s character in the direction of Harley Quinn given the character’s origin. Following Arthur Fleck’s decent into madness and actions at the end of the film, he had been placed in a psychiatric hospital with very suggestive hints that he may have escaped. Also returning for the sequel is Zazie Beetz, who played Arthur’s neighbor Sophie Dumond.
Joker And Harley: A Match Made in an Asylum
Created in 1993’s Batman: The Animated Series by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Harley Quinn’s throwaway status evaporated as fans gravitated towards her. Her origin was revealed in the graphic novel Mad Love, revealing she had been Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a recent Arkham psychiatrist that tried to treat the Joker to further her career. Instead, she fell for his lies and wound up seduced by him. Losing her own grip on sanity she adopted the moll persona of Harley Quinn, and broke the clown out of Arkham. Her popularity reached beyond the animated series, as she debuted in the regular DC Universe during the “No Man’s Land” Batman story in 1997. Her first monthly series had been written by Dini himself. Her first live action portrayal had been in 2016’s Suicide Squad by Margot Robbie, who has reprised the role in two separate films.
Robbie has nothing but praise for Gaga’s casting, but there is no official confirmation as to who the Oscar-winning singer is playing the character. Entitled Joker: Folie a Deux – “Madness for Two” in French – this is described as a musical, which will showcase Gaga’s singing and acting abilities, last displayed on the big screen alongside Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born.
To date there is no official synopsis for the film. but the film takes place in the newly-announced Elseworlds Timeline by DC Studios Co-Chairmen James Gunn and Peter Safran. This allows for the existence of Matt Reeves’s The Batman, Robbie’s Suicide Squad, and others in an ever-growing multiverse in which everything is canon. The film is scheduled for release October 4, 2024.
Official Source – First ‘Joker 2’ Image of Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn (collider.com)
