Joker 2: Todd Phillips' return and everything we know so far

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

We live in a society where Joker ii is going to happen. So, if anyone forgot, information technology'southward time to remember that the original Joaquin Phoenix-led Joker moving-picture show did so well at the box office (and with critics), that Warner Bros. Pictures is set up for some other round of the early days of the clown prince of crime.

To recap, Todd Phillips' Joker took in more $i billion at the box office, and (unlike a lot of movies spawning from DC intellectual property) got serious raves from critics. Heck, Phoenix fifty-fifty took abode the Oscar for All-time Operation by an Actor in a Leading Office for the film (which was also nominated for flick of the year).

Volition Phillips' Joker run afoul of Robert Pattinson's The Batman? What should nosotros expect from this sequel? Allow'southward discover out.

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Joker 2 release date speculation

We're far abroad from learning about when Joker 2 will arrive, as the latest news shows it's in the pre-production stage. Right now, we're thinking it will arrive in late 2023 or so. Here'due south why:

If you'd forgotten that Joker 2 was going to happen, yous're not lone. News most the flick had been simmering in the background for a while, until news of writer/director Todd Phillips signing onto "co-write the next Joker installment" was cached securely in a The Hollywood Reporter story near the most powerful lawyers in Hollywood. That ways, we're off to the races.

The original Joker pic took about two years to consummate: script-writing took place in 2017, and the motion picture premiered at the 76th Venice International Motion-picture show Festival in 2019. This is why we remember late 2023 is around the fourth dimension Joker 2 will debut.

Joker 2 cast and crew speculation

We are and then early in the Joker ii bicycle that we don't really know much about who to expect. That said, we'd be shocked if Joaquin Phoenix didn't come back to reprise the function of Arthur Fleck. IMDb currently lists his involvement equally "rumored."

The only way we could see Joker two happening without Phoenix is if it's a view of Mr. J from a completely different time in his life. A whole-new take on The Joker seems a bit too risky.

Sophie Dumond (equally played past Zazie Beetz) is too possible to render, as Arthur did not kill Sophie. This was confirmed by cinematographer Lawrence Sher. She did non "wrong" Arthur, so he had no revenge to seek.

Joker 2: is Joaquin Phoenix coming back? — (Prototype credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

And then, let's as well exercise a chip of recap for who can't come back — per the deaths in Joker. Of class, Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) isn't going to be in Joker 2, after he was shot in the caput, live on air. Arthur's mother Penny Fleck (Frances Conroy) isn't coming back either, equally he suffocated her with a pillow.

And, of grade, don't expect to see Martha or Thomas Wayne (at least exterior of a flashback), as Joe Chill shot them both.

Just what nearly the Waynes' son? Nosotros hear he'south got a new picture coming out, as well.

Joker ii Batman rumors

While there is a lot of desire for Batman to be in Joker ii, don't wait information technology. Such an appearance would crave a time-jump forward of at least a decade, if non longer. And we're guessing Joker 2 will focus on the development of Mr. J, and not jump straight to the fully-formed Joker (the likely subject of a hypothetical Joker iii, which seems inevitable).

Every bit for what could happen with an eventual Batman advent, we're non seeing any reason to expect Robert Pattinson in the Joker 2, Joker 3 or any forthcoming motion-picture show. Pattinson said to Yahoo that "It's kind of a different earth."

So, that means Joker will likely get his own version of Batman and Bruce Wayne.

Joker 2 plot possibilities

And then, what exactly would happen in Joker 2? The commencement film concluded in a way that felt both conclusive and open for a sequel, with Arthur Chip gunning downwards TV host Murray Franklin on live TV. Then, we saw Bruce Wayne witness the murder of his parents by a clown-masked rioter.

No details take leaked out about what events Joker 2 volition focus on. Originally, Phillips wanted to practise a serial of DC villain origin movies, not a series of Joker movies. So Phillips coming dorsum to the motion-picture show likely stems from either a big offering or a big thought (hopefully both).

What we tin can expect from Joker ii, though, is a serious emotional impact. Dorsum in 2019, Phillips told Borderline that such a motion picture (were it to happen) "would have to take a existent thematic resonance the way this one did, ultimately beingness virtually babyhood trauma and the lack of love, and the loss of empathy. All those things are really what made this pic work for united states of america, so we'd have to take something that had an equal thematic resonance."

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Henry is a senior editor at Tom's Guide roofing streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the by half-dozen-plus years. Prior to joining Tom'south Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild earth of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.