When I attended a screening of Joker this past weekend, I was fully aware of how it was intended to be a standalone film separate from the rest of the DC Extended Universe – but then it wound up being so damn excellent that I can’t help wishing for a sequel. Some people may like great movies left untouched, but I want more in this case.
To my delight, lead actor Joaquin Phoenix is seemingly open to the possibility of doing a followup of some sort, saying the following while appearing on Popcorn with Peter Travers:
“I talked to Todd a lot about what else we might be able to do, in general, just to work together, but also specifically, if there’s something else we can do with Joker that might be interesting. So, it ended up being a dream role. It’s nothing that I really wanted to do prior to working on this movie. I don’t know that there is [more to do]. Me and Todd would still be shooting now if we could, right? Because it seemed endless, the possibilities of where we can go with the character.”
Okay, granted, there won’t ever be any sort of crossover between Phoenix’s Joker and Robert Pattinson’s Batman, but that doesn’t mean the former is prohibited from further fleshing out his character in an entirely separate universe. And after he posted the greatest opening weekend ever recorded for October, maybe some execs over at Warner Bros. will show interest in an additional chapter as well.
The reason I personally support a sequel is that I’d very much like to see what Phoenix could do with a full-blown Clown Prince of Crime. After all, Joker was an origin story in every sense, and the headlining performer was Arthur Fleck for the bulk of it. He didn’t really become the Joker until the third act – and even then he’s not quite the fully formed Ace of Knaves. That said, there’s much room left for exploration.
