Joker director and co-writer Todd Phillips clarified his thoughts on a potential sequel to the Joaquin Phoenix-starring film.
Both Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix were being interviewed for Joker, and during a recent Q&A after a screening of the movie, Todd Phillips made his sentiment clear on a Joker sequel – he has no plans for one, and this new film remains as a standalone Elseworlds story:
“The quote was, ‘I will do anything Joaquin wants to do.’ And I would. But the movie’s not set up to [have] a sequel. We always pitched it as one movie, and that’s it.
We have no plan for a sequel. We made this movie, I pitched it to Warner Bros. as one movie, it exists in its own world, that’s it. It’s not about worldbuilding, it’s not about other versions, it’s like, here’s our version of the origin story, that’s it. That’s what I meant.”
This is in response to a comment that Todd Phillips made last month in regards to working with Joaquin Phoenix on a future project. Although many news outlets took this as a means to speculate about a potential Joker sequel, this latest statement from Todd Phillips puts those rumors to rest.
Joker is reportedly intended to launch DC Black, which is a new label for DC Comics films that are standalone in nature and are separate from the continuity of the ongoing DC Extended Universe. Joker has been getting mostly positive reviews from critics and attendees from its respective screenings at major film festivals, even winning the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Both Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal and Todd Phillips’ direction have received praise.
Are you disappointed to hear Todd Phillips’ confirmation that Joker will remain as a standalone film with no sequel planned? Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to continue following Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news regarding the future of DC Comics on film.
Here is the official synopsis for Joker:
Director Todd Phillips “Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fractured society. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.
Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, Shea Whigham and Robert De Niro.
Joker will be released in theaters on October 4, 2019.
