Will there be a Joker sequel?
There has been a great deal of speculation about whet Joaquin Phoenix will return to play Joker – with some fans desperate to see a return of the new incarnation of the deadly villain.
Even director Todd Phillips has been asked about this, especially on whether Phoenix’s Joker will return to face his archenemy – Batman – in the upcoming DC movie The Batman.
In this film, Robert Pattinson will play the caped crusader, though at present Hollywood insiders suggest it will be Jonah Hill in the villain’s role as either The Riddler or Penguin.
But Todd set tongues wagging when he spoke to Total Film about whether Phoenix’s Joker could appear in The Batman.
He said: “One thing I will tell you: I would do anything with Joaquin, any day of the week. There’s nobody like him.
“If he was willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and Warners came to us and said, ‘You know what? If you guys could think of something…’
“Well, I have a feeling that he and I could think of something pretty cool.”
After this sent shockwaves around DC fans. However, Phillips later seemed to retract this statement.
He told Variety: “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.”
Asked whether there is more to come, he added: “No, definitely not.
“Oddly, in the states, comic books are our Shakespeare it seems, and you can do many, many versions of Hamlet.
“There will be many more jokers, I’m sure, in the future.”
The ending of the film certainly suggests the film is a beginning of something rather than an ending, so with the film ending as it did, it may seem fitting for more Jokers adventures to come to the big screen.
But Phillips has even suggested the idea of a post-credits scene would not be fitting to the narrative, let alone an entirely new movie.
According to Variety, he said: “The idea of a post-credits scene in this movie would seem wrong, and a little too light for me.
“That wouldn’t have been something we did.
“But Joaquin [Phoenix] said it would be funny to put bloopers alongside the names like they did in the old days.”
What is Joker about?
Joker follows failed stand-up comedy Arthur Fleck, who struggles with living in poverty, taking care of his mother, and various mental health struggles.
As his struggles intensify, he turns to a criminal life which soon brings about the beginning of a new age: The Age of the Joker.
Joker is in cinemas now