EDITOR'S NOTE: SPOILER ALERT. The note includes many details about the end of Joker: Folie à Deux.
Todd Phillips resumes his duties as co-writer and director in the sequel Joker: Folie à Deuxwhich is already in theaters.
The feature film features the return of Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker, and the debut of Lady Gaga (A Star is Born, House of Gucci) as Harley Quinn, who in this Joker-verse of Phillips, knew incarnation of the popular character, he is known as Lee Quinzel.
The sequel It has musical elements and is set in part in Arkham Asylum –which is where it ends JOKER (2019) after Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) was sent there – and elsewhere on trial. Folie à Deux takes place two years after the events of the original, as Arthur awaits trial for the murder of five people occurred in the original delivery.
SPOILER ALERT
The aforementioned trial has an explosive climax, literally, because during its closing while the jury's verdict is being read, a bomb explodes that destroys the court, allowing Arthur to flee.
During the trial, Arthur confesses that Joker is not a split personality of his, that the Joker does not exist. It was all done by his hand as Arthur Fleck, and therefore he is guilty of the murders, not Joker.
As context, his lawyer (played by Catherine Keener) tried to defend him using multiple personality as his best option to avoid prison and confine him to a hospital. When Arthur accepts his guilt for what happened, he decides to fire his lawyer and accept that it is just Arthur, freeing himself in a certain way by accepting his guilt.
Phillips explains to EW this decision by Arthur and that it all stems from an action experienced within Arkham:
“He realized that everything is so corrupt, that it will never change, and the only way to fix it is to burn it all down.
“When those guards kill that boy in the [hospital], He realizes that dressing up in makeup, putting on this thing, is not going to change anything. In a way, he has accepted the fact that he has always been Arthur Fleck; It's never been this thing that's been imposed on him, this idea that the people of Gotham have imposed on him, that he represents. It is an involuntary icon. This thing was imposed on him, and he no longer wants to live as an imposter, he wants to be who he is..”
In the film, Arthur's decision is not well received by Lee (Gaga), who constantly tries to bring out the Joker, rejecting Arthur. Curiously, this same rejection is being experienced in the real world with the audience harshly criticizing Phillips' work for not giving them the Joker from DC Comics.
Phillips explica a EW:
“The sad thing is that he is Arthur and no one cares about Arthur. [Ella] he's realizing that 'I'm on a completely different journey. You can't be what I wanted you to be.'”
And for the most curious, the final scene between Arthur and Lee is real. It's not part of either of our imaginations.
Phillips wrote the script with Scott Silverhis coguionist in Joker (2019).
In addition to Phoenix and Gaga, the main cast includes Zazie Beetz reprising her role as Sophie Dumond, with the new additions of Catherine Keener (Get Out), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges), Jacob Lofland (Mud), y Harry Lawtey (Industry) como Harvey Dent.
Joker: Folie à Deux is now in theaters in most markets worldwide. It remains to be released in Japan (October 11) and China (October 16).
Source: https://cine3.com/todd-phillips-arthur-fleck-nunca-fue-joker-icono-involuntario/
