After years of uncertainty over whether or not Joker 2 would actually happen, the sequel has been making big progress over the last several months following director Todd Phillips revealing that this upcoming entry in the DC movies slate will be officially titled Joker: Folie à Deux. This includes the lineup of actors joining Joaquin Phoenix being slowly assembled, and today brings word that one of the stars from 2017’s Get Out is taking part in Joker 2.
Catherine Keener, who played matriarch Missy Armitage in Jordan Peele’s feature-length directorial debut, has landed what Deadline describes as a “major role” in Joker 2, although the outlet mentioned that there are no details yet about this mysterious character. Along with Get Out, you may recognize Keener from movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and The Adam Project, and TV shows like Kidding and Modern Love. Keener is the fifth actor to be unveiled for Joker 2, as along with Zazie Beetz expected to reprise the role of Sophie Dumond, Lady Gaga and Harry Potter star Brendan Gleeson have also come aboard.
Set in a separate continuity from the DC Extended Universe and Matt Reeves’ The Batman world, 2019’s Joker followed Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, a party clown and aspiring stand-up comedy whose struggles with mental illness and being mistreated by various people in his life lead to him becoming the Clown Prince of Crime and inspiring an uprising against Gotham City’s wealthy citizens. Along with being met with a decent amount of positive critical reception, Joker became the first R-rated movie to cross $1 billion at the box office. So while Joker was initially conceived as a standalone movie, with a performance like that, it’s hardly surprising Warner Bros. and DC decided to move forward with a sequel.
Regarding what to expect from Joker 2, although there’s been no official comment on this, Lady Gaga, who confirmed in early August that she’s in the movie, is reportedly playing Harley Quinn. This would line up nicely with the Joker: Folie à Deux title, as that latter French term is a psychiatric syndrome in which two or more people share the same delusion, and Harley Quinn is traditionally depicted as falling in love with The Joker while treating him at Arkham Asylum when she was a psychiatrist. Gaga would be the second actress to ply Harley Quinn in a live-action film setting, with Margot Robbie having already done so in Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad.
It’s also been said that Joker 2 movie musical, which is apparently one of the reasons why the sequel is reportedly costing a lot more compared to Joker. Another reason why Joker 2’s budget has reportedly ballooned to roughly $150 million is because Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips are both being paid $20 million this time around, while Lady Gaga is apparently collecting $10 million for her role. While it’s anyone’s guess at this point how Catherine Keener will fit into the Joker 2 picture, evidently we’ll be seeing a lot of her.
Joker 2 is set to come out on October 4, 2024, and as soon as specific plot details and information about the new characters trickle in, CinemaBlend will pass those along.
