The Joker: Folie à Deux Trailer Is Hiding So Many Details
We finally have our first look at “Joker: Folie á Deux,” the dark and dreamy sequel to Todd Phillips’ audacious 2019 comic book movie debut “Joker.” Warner Bros. has released a teaser trailer, showcasing the sure-to-be destructive love affair between disillusioned comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) and fellow Arkham Asylum inmate Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). As they dance in and out of the Joker’s twisted, fractured psyche, one can only imagine what kind of chaos they will undoubtedly sow. However, we do get more than a few clues from this first trailer, including how the film’s controversial genre twist will come into play.
If the original “Joker” failed to put a smile on your face, there’s not much in this trailer to suggest that you’ll be won over by its sequel. But if you did find yourself even slightly captivated by its arresting visual design, its references to the canon of classic cinema, or its connection to the rich history of the DC Universe, this trailer seems to promise everything you could hope for in a follow-up. And if you’re worried that you might have missed something in the densely-packed teaser, don’t worry — we’ve gone through it frame-by-frame to pick out the most striking and interesting moments.
The teaser hides that the film is a musical
It’s become something of a trend for modern movie musicals to hide the fact that they are musicals at all during the early marketing process. Though one may be able to learn this information if they closely follow the trades, casual consumers can be caught off guard. So, if you didn’t know this already, allow us to break the news to you: “Joker: Folie á Deux” is reportedly a full-blown musical set to classic pop standards. We feel like we need to tell you this, because the sequel’s trailer certainly doesn’t.
This peculiar marketing strategy isn’t new for Warner Bros., which kept the fact that 2023’s “Wonka” is a musical under wraps when promoting it. That same year, the studio released a new adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel “The Color Purple.” The trailer stated that it was based on the 1892 novel of the same name, but didn’t mention that the film is actually a remake the Broadway adaptation, only showing a few seconds of song. And this sneaky approach goes back even further than that.
In 2007, the studio released a highly-anticipated adaptation of the popular stage musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” Yet, despite the fact that every theater kid had been humming along to the richly grotesque score of the Stephen Sondheim masterpiece for years at that point, Warner Bros. perplexingly tried to market the film as a straightforward thriller. One can’t help but wonder why Warner Bros. keeps making musicals if it doesn’t even have the confidence to market them as such.
There’s a callback to Robert De Niro’s Murray Franklin
Though Arthur Fleck may be looking for a fresh start with what will likely be described as a “mad love” (the name of a one-shot comic written by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm) with Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, it seems like the ghosts from his past will be coming back to dance with him once more. And in some cases, we mean “dance” quite literally.
At around the halfway point of the teaser trailer, Arthur and Harley are seen dancing on a television set. As they groove to the music of a live band (with Harley seemingly on the keys, almost certainly courtesy of Gaga’s real-life instrumental prowess), large box lights and an “APPLAUSE” sign hang above their heads. Based on the instantly recognizable orange, yellow, and turquoise color scheme of the curtains behind the pair, there’s a strong possibility that this set was inspired (either in reality or in one of Arthur’s hallucinations) by the set of his old nemesis, Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro).
As readers may remember, Murray was a famous comedian and talk show host, as well as Arthur’s personal hero-turned-torturer after he mocked one of Arthur’s jokes in front of his national television audience. He was ultimately murdered by the newly-christened Joker during an interview on his show. This new “set” could represent Joker taking ownership of a humiliating and potentially traumatizing chapter in his life through his relationship with Harley.
Elaborate sets evoke old Hollywood dance scenes
Say what you want about Todd Phillips’ original “Joker” film, you have to give it some credit for displaying some of the most deliciously moody sets ever seen in a comic book film. “Joker: Folie á Deux” appears to be upping the ante, with elaborate, scenic design that melds the dour world of Arthur Fleck with the synthetic glamor of old Hollywood movie musicals. In some shots seen in the teaser trailer, Arthur and Harley literally appear to be on a stage with a flat, painted background.
One set in particular — which appears to be the chapel where Arthur and Harley will presumably be “wed” — calls to mind the sort of sets seen in Michael Curtiz’s 1954 film “White Christmas.” The film (which follows two World War II veterans trying to revive a wintery resort run by their old general) features many jaw-dropping dance numbers, including one set to Irving Berlin’s “Mandy.” The titular character in the song is an independent young woman who nevertheless is urged to get married as soon as possible in the lyrics.
This could be Phillips drawing a comparison between the outdated and gendered expectations of many older musicals (“White Christmas” most certainly included) and the plight Harley finds herself in once she becomes the object of Arthur’s obsessions. Or it might be totally disconnected, and we simply watched too much TCM during quarantine. Who’s to say?
Singin’ in the Rain
Given that the teaser trailer features little in the way of singing, it seems that “Joker: Folie á Deux” will follow in the footsteps of “Wonka” and the recent remake of “Mean Girls” by marketing itself as a straightforward movie. But, even if we don’t get any clips of Gaga or Phoenix crooning tunes in this trailer, there are plenty of musical references to get those in-the-know excited.
Arguably the clearest direct reference to another movie musical comes early in the trailer, when it seemingly introduces us to how Arthur will hallucinate through song-and-dance throughout the film. While walking with four guards (presumably in the courtyard of Arkham Asylum), their dark-colored umbrellas suddenly turn technicolor. The aerial shot bears a strong resemblance to imagery from Gene Kelly’s 1952 classic “Singin’ in the Rain.”
This visual Easter egg may be just that and nothing more. However, as it’s an apparent nod to a film about the motion picture industry going through a tremendous, romantic, and yet often tumultuous transition, perhaps a parallel is meant to be drawn between that journey and the one Arthur is on the cusp of experiencing with Gaga’s Harley. It’s also likely no accident that “Singin’ in the Rain” is one of the most famous musicals ever, which makes its presence within the darkly “comic” world of the Joker all the more eerie.