Generally speaking, I’m not excited about a new superhero film. It’s nothing against the genre; there have been plenty of great films in it, but it’s currently such a commercial-driven area that you can’t really expect much from a movie until you see the initial reviews. This seems to be a prevailing opinion nowadays: superhero fatigue. There are just too many Marvel and DC movies to watch, and eventually, it becomes a chore.

Yet, I’m looking forward to one. Is Joker a superhero movie? Kind of? I mean, he’s not a superhero or anything, but it exists in that DC bubble. Joker was a good film which verged on great. It wasn’t the best version of that character, and criticisms about its borrowing from Martin Scorsese were fair, but it was still a good film that easily got caught up in the zeitgeist.

But can Todd Phillips do it again? He’s not a bad filmmaker, but it feels like a big ask, as this film comes with heavy expectations. Marking a significant departure from the main DC Universe, “Joker: Folie à Deux” has been designated as a DC Elseworlds project. This essentially means it won’t take place in the main DC universe, so you don’t need to watch all of them to make it make sense, which is certainly good news. 

The film boasts a stellar cast, including Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as Arthur Fleck, the enigmatic and troubled Joker. Joining him is the pop star-turned-leading lady Lady Gaga, speculated to be portraying Harley Quinn, alongside other notables like Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson, and Catherine Keener. 

Principal photography for the film commenced in December 2022, with locations including Los Angeles, New York, and an abandoned hospital in New Jersey, which doubled as Arkham Asylum. The filming wrapped up in April 2023. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher, citing Francis Ford Coppola‘s One From the Heart as a visual inspiration, worked on this project. If it’s anything like One From the Heart, it’s sure to be a dazzling experience. Heck, even if it copies as liberally as the first one from King of Comedy did, it’ll be worth admission.

Release Date: October 4, 2024

Will It Be Good?

Maybe. There are a few lingering questions about the project. 

1. What sort of story can they tell? 
2. Will superhero fatigue affect this film?
3. Will larger social conversations take to the film like they did with the first one?

Todd Phillips is clearly a decent director, but I don’t think it’s rude to say it’s not a guarantee that he’ll be able to guide this movie to safe shores. How many sequels ever live up to the originals? Is part two too late to have an impact? There are a lot of questions that the film will need to overcome if it wants to make its mark, but it’s certainly not impossible, as a lot of my worries would have been relevant in 2019 before the first one was released. If he could do it then, he could do it now.

Will It Be Worth Watching? Maybe. It’s certainly the most anticipated superhero movie.