‘This movie is a big swing’: As the stagnant MCU struggles, another billion-dollar comic book sequel is actively ripping up the rulebook

Every sequel to a comic book smash hit promises that it won’t rest on its laurels and repeat the same formula that brought success the first time around, and as many times as we’ve been burned in the past by that exact same sentiment, you can’t help but believe it where Joker: Folie à Deux is concerned.

Nobody expected the opener to make a billion dollars at the box office, become the highest-grossing R-rated release in the history of cinema, or win a pair of Academy Awards from 11 nominations. In fact, Warner Bros. didn’t even really want it to exist in the first place, but the studio was ultimately served a hefty slice of humble pie by Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix.

The follow-up is scheduled for release next year, and cinematographer Lawrence Sher has hinted in an interview with Definition Magazine that Joker 2 isn’t going to be your cookie-cutter comic book successor.

“We’re just finishing up post-production on it. This movie is a big swing and it’s going to be really surprising to people. I’m so excited for everyone to see it.”

Presumably, he means the fact everybody’s operating under the assumption we’re getting a full-blown musical, with Lady Gaga even going full method to get under the skin of Harley Quinn. As the DCEU deflates and the MCU struggles to maintain any sort of consistent quality, at least there’s one superhero-adjacent franchise out there willing to swing for the fences, regardless of whether it works or not.