Todd Phillips’ version of the Joker endured a fair amount of solitude in his first outing, but Joker: Folie à Deux throws all that out the window. Not only will Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) find a kindred spirit in Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), but he’ll amass an army of supporters as he stands trial for the murder of Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). His exploits have made him infamous — quite the opposite of his status in 2019’s Joker — and that gives Phillips the freedom to expand his world by adding some familiar characters.
The latest trailer for Folie à Deux teases a bit more of Arthur and Harley’s shared delusion, which will manifest in chaotic musical numbers. Back in reality, however, Arthur could be going toe-to-toe with another iconic DC villain. Early in the trailer, as Arthur is ferried from Arkham State Hospital to his trial, he hears the voice of Harvey Dent on the radio. Dent describes Arthur not as a “martyr” but a “monster,” a statement that could set up a clash between these characters.
In the Jokerverse, Dent hasn’t yet become the supervillain known as Two-Face. He could very well be Gotham’s District Attorney or the prosecutor in Arthur’s case. We may even witness the event that turns him into Two-Face, as the Folie à Deux trailer teases an explosion during Arthur’s trial. It would be a slight departure from Two-Face’s comic book origin story, but Phillips has already taken big liberties with Joker, Harley, and Bruce Wayne. The director is taking full advantage of having an alternate timeline, so Folie à Deux could easily introduce a Gotham overrun by supervillains free of the Dark Knight’s threat.
With James Gunn and Peter Safran building out their own DC Universe, there’s no telling if Folie à Deux will be the last Joker movie from Phillips and Phoenix. Their first collaboration did better than expected, and if its sequel matches its success, there’s every reason for this mini-universe to continue alongside Matt Reeves’ own Batman universe. That means we could see several versions of Joker, Dent, and Batman in the coming years, each interpretation different from the last. That’s not much of a change from the DCEU we had before Gunn and Safran took over, but their approach to the multiverse will hopefully be more measured and thoughtful. If not, the musical numbers should at least be catchy.
