Director Todd Phillips is reportedly very close to making Joker 2 starring Joaquin Phoenix. As part of Warner Bros. and DC Films’ decision to move away from a tight shared universe model for all of its DC movies, the studio greenlit a Joker origin story. The movie starred Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, the man who becomes Joker in this universe. Joker became a massive success for WB and DC upon its release in 2019. The movie shocked Hollywood as it earned over $1 billion worldwide and became a major Oscars contender, with Phoenix winning the Best Actor Academy Award.
Unsurprisingly, Joker‘s success brought up discussions about a sequel. Development on Joker 2 began in late 2019 when it was reported that Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver had begun negotiations with the studios to return. There haven’t been many updates on the sequel since then, as Phoenix has said he was not sure if another movie would happen. The fate of Joker 2 and many other DC movies have recently been questioned again after Warner Bros.’ merger with Discovery.
According to a new report from Puck News, it seems that Joker 2 has made a lot of progress. An article from Matthew Belloni mentions that Todd Phillips is reportedly “getting pretty close on a Joker sequel.” Since he is directing and co-writing the script, it is possible this means the Joker 2 story has been cracked or that the script is nearly complete. Warner Bros. has yet to officially announce the Joker sequel or give it a release date.
These reports of Joker 2 making some progress comes after additional reports that Phillips could take on a larger role within DC’s movie future. Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav reportedly wants the Joker director to serve as an advisor on the DC slate. This comes after Zaslav and Phillips have seemingly developed a great working rapport. Based on these previous reports, it is possible that Joker 2 is now so close to happening because of Zaslav’s admiration for what Phillips accomplished with the first film and wanting to keep him inside the DC universe.
If the Joker sequel does happen with Phoenix returning, all eyes will be on what Phillips’ story is. There is plenty of interest from fans to see Phoenix’s Joker fight a version of Batman, even though Bruce Wayne was just a child during the events of the first film. Of course, the proposed idea of Willem Dafoe playing a second Joker in the sequel has also conjured plenty of excitement. The truth is that no one really knows what Joker 2‘s story will be at this point, but that could change if the movie keeps making progress.
Source: Puck News
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