Warner Bros.
The first trailer for ‘Joker 2: Folie à Deux’ starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga unleashes madness and gets everyone up and dancing
There is only one superhero movie that has been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, and there is only one saga that can go from existential drama to musical. They are the same.
Todd Phillips woke up one fine day and said, “I’m going to turn superhero movies upside down.” With a third of the budget of the Batman movies and no masked, no caped guys. No explosions or over-the-top effects. With only one actor and philosophical and existentialist speeches. A genre movie aimed at the general public, but an auteur film. Realistic, intimate. “What’s more, I’m going to convince De Niro to participate,” he said to himself. “I will go to the festivals, win the Golden Lion in Venice, become an Oscar candidate and have my protagonist and my composer win the statuette”. Thus was born “The Joker”, one of the best films ever made based on comic books.
It could have ended there, but Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix are not the kind of people to slack off, rest on their laurels, or wallow in the mire of complacency. Both wanted to up the ante and be even more daring and original. Now that they have created a legion of fans (or crazies), they are completely turning the rudder and heading back into uncharted territory. They accept the sack with the dollar sign, kidnap Lady Gaga for their expedition and jump into the void again by betting on a musical. All or nothing.
That’s why the first trailer (above) is everything we expected and everything we never imagined. A madness that makes ‘Joker 2: Folie à Deux’ the most anticipated superhero movie of the year. Not ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ or whatever. It will be anything but easy (its very name is a tongue twister, so you can’t even ask for a ticket) and its violence, profanity, full nudity and 15 musical numbers seem ready to stir up passions for and against. But be that as it may, it has managed to make us mark in red in the agenda its release date: October 4, 2024.