A year and a half ago, Joker blew away all expectations, bringing in over $1 billion at the box office and earning a Best Actor Oscar win for Joaquin Phoenix. It’s not often that a comic book movie achieves that kind of critical and commercial success, so it’s no surprise that there was a lot of buzz about a sequel happening. In recent times, news has mostly stalled on that front, but according to a recent report, Joker 2 is still on its way.
The Hollywood Reporter has shared a blowout piece all about the Superman reboot that Warner Bros. is cooking up with J.J. Abrams. One of the things about that project that the trade clarifies is that it won’t be part of the mainstream DCEU and will take place in its own continuity. To explain the overall shape of the franchise, THR notes that everything is set on the same Earth “with the exception of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson and set for release in March, HBO Max’s spinoff Gotham PD, and Joker and its planned sequel.”
This seems to confirm that a Joker follow-up is still in active development over at WB. Just to make clear, though, THR is not saying that the pic exists in the same universe as The Batman and its spinoffs, just that both are not connected to the world of the DCEU. In fact, we’ve already been told that, if the Dark Knight does turn up in the JokerVerse, he won’t be played by Robert Pattinson.
Presumably, the hold-up is to do with locking Phoenix down for another film. The actor is not known for playing the studio game and signing on for never-ending franchises. That said, the star has been positive about the chances of coming back for another outing in the clown makeup in the past. It’s likely that WB is giving writer/director Todd Phillips time to craft something that measures up to the first one, too.
So, as far as we know, a Joker sequel is still in the works, it’s just not something that’s being fast-tracked at this stage.
