Joker 2: The First Image of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn and Joaquin Phoenix in Folie à Deux

Todd Phillips has unveiled, via his Instagram account, the first image of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in Joker 2 (Joker: Folie à Deux). Joining her is Joaquin Phoenix and her caption simply reads “Happy Valentine’s Day”. Just a few weeks ago, the star had posted a photo of her on social media that portrayed her as soon as she arrived on the set of Joker 2, confirming what the director had anticipated, namely that filming with Gaga would begin towards the end of January. Joker: Folie à Deux will be a musical and will take place predominantly within Arkham Asylum. The title refers to a psychiatric condition, the so-called madness for two, which involves two people who are closely related to each other. For the moment there are no details on the plot, but we know that together with Phoenix and Gaga, Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson, Katherine Keener, and Jacob Lofland are also part of the cast of Joker 2. You can see the first image that portrays Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix together at the bottom of our article.

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix Together in a New Image of Joker 2

Since her casting in the villainess role was announced, we’ve all been eager to find out what Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn will be like. In the shot shared by Todd Phillips, Harley Quinn, and the Joker are facing each other, very close in the foreground, in a scene that probably takes place inside Arkham Asylum. In light of the tones of the first film and its extraneousness to the DCU, Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn will be completely different from the one brought to the screen by Margot Robbie. As filming continues — it began last December — more surprises from the Joker 2 set are likely to arrive soon. The release of Joker: Folie à Deux is set for October 4, 2024.

The Philips film, a direct sequel to Joker (2019), winner of the Golden Lion in Venice, and with a global gross of more than a billion dollars, should be released in US theaters on October 4, 2024, and, according to what was declared previously, it should contain several musical moments, which could visually represent reveries or dreams: the subtitle of the film, in fact, “folie à deux”, recalls a particular psychiatric condition in which two individuals, who live in close contact with each other, or situations of intimacy, isolated from the world externally, they share a kind of psychotic delusion. At the moment, however, these are only speculations; in fact, no details were disclosed on the plot of the film, which will see in the cast together with Phoenix and Gaga, also Catherine Keener, Brendan Gleeson, and Zazie Beets.

First look at #LadyGaga and #JoaquinPhoenix in JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX#JOKER2 #JokerFolieÀDeux @ladygaga @wbpictures @DCComics pic.twitter.com/y5ZexHp0T5

— Filmy Hype (@Filmy_Hype) February 15, 2023

Margot Robbie, who in recent years has made the character of Harley Quinn iconic, in Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad – Suicide mission, and Birds Of Prey, had declared, regarding her character, last October: “Having built such a solid foundation is an honor for me; now Harley Quinn can be played by other great actors, as happens with great characters, Macbeth, or Batman: I’m sure she will come up with something incredible.

The new Todd Philips film, just like the previous one, will not be part of the main continuity of the DC universe. Instead, it will be part of a group of standalone projects gathered under the label of “Elseworlds”, or stories of an “alternative universe”, independent and with a more accentuated authorial component. By the way, Peter Safran, the new president of DC Studios together with James Gunn, had said: “This film will certainly have the Elseworlds label”; for these products, the standard to aspire to will be very high, but no doubt, from time to time, there will be films that meet these ambitions”.