Warning: Huge spoilers ahead for Joker 2.
Joker: Folie à Deux has been a divisive release. With confusion as to whether or not the film was, actually, a musical (??), reception to Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his 2019 film Joker has been mixed at best, Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix’s performances notwithstanding. Whether one of the main characters is really dead is left somewhat open to interpretation, but the movie’s reviews may answer that question for you.
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Phillips noted to The Hollywood Reporter that a sequel, perhaps with Gaga’s Harley Quinn as the central character, is “not really where this movie is headed for me. I feel like my time in the DC Universe was these two films.” So in case you were wondering…
Does Joker Really Die?
Arthur Fleck really seems dead, huh? Although of course with these sorts of movies, the ending could be open to interpretation. Arthur is on trial for his previous crimes, where he attempts to renounce his Joker persona. Despite his efforts, he is found guilty of first-degree murder.
During the trial, a car bomb explodes outside the courthouse, allowing Arthur to escape with the help of his followers. After escaping, Arthur seeks out Quinn, but she rejects him after he renounces the Joker identity, revealing that her feelings are tied to the persona rather than Arthur himself.
While back in Arkham State Hospital, Arthur is approached by another inmate who shares a joke, the punchline to the same one Joker gave to Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro) in the first film: “You get what you fuckin deserve.” Then he stabs Aruther multiple times in the abdomen, and then, the inmate carves a smile into his own face while laughing manically. The film concludes with Arthur bleeding on the floor, leaving it unclear whether he survives the stabbing or succumbs to his injuries.
As we said, maybe the prospect of a Joker 3 died along with Arthur Fleck given the reviews. The musical elements particularly were controversial, with some finding them brilliant and others feeling they were forced or disruptive. But Phillips seems pretty set on the idea that these two movies were it for him. “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world,” he told Variety. In other words, don’t hold your breath for Joker 3.”