After Warner Bros. and DC Films dropped a barrage of bad news on fans by canceling Batgirl when the movie was in the final stages of post-production, and thus creating plenty of concern for any number of in-development projects including Blue Beetle, Black Canary, and the forgotten Green Lantern series, the studio threw its beleaguered supporters a bone when Joker: Folie ร Deux was awarded a release date.
The sequel to the highest-grossing R-rated release in the history of cinema will be coming to theaters in October of 2024, a date that will be looking to recapture the lightning in a bottle that greeted Todd Phillips’ opening installment, which would go on to rocket past a billion dollars at the box office and become an awards season juggernaut.
Further details on those whisperings of Joker 2 being a musical, or the potential involvement of Lady Gaga as an all-singing and all-dancing Harley Quinn have yet to materialize in an official capacity, but it didn’t take long for social media users to figure out precisely why WB had chosen yesterday to unveil the day we can expect Folie ร Deux a debut.
It might sound cynical, but then again, it would hardly be out of the ordinary given the disdain that Warner Bros. regularly appears to hold for its most vocal subset of fanatics. You want the Snyder Cut? You’ll get it, but only after four years of campaigning. The SnyderVerse? Forget about it. A cohesive shared universe? No chance.
A Batgirl solo movie with Leslie Grace, Brendan Fraser, J.K. Simmons, and Michael Keaton? Sure, it exists, but you’ll never get to watch it. These are tough times for the fandom, and they’re far from over, but not even Joker 2 can soften the blow.