One new character revealed for Joker: Folie à Deux means that Todd Phillips’ sequel will find it difficult to continue ignoring Bruce Wayne’s Batman.

With new characters revealed for Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips’ 2024 sequel will find it very difficult to keep ignoring Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. 2019’s Joker introduced audiences to a darker, grittier, and arguably more realistic version of the DC Universe, set outside the franchise’s main continuity and debuting a more realistic and troubled version of the titular villain. Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Arthur Fleck, a.k.a. the Joker, earned him critical acclaim, making his return to the role in Joker: Folie à Deux incredibly exciting, and he has been confirmed to be joined by Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, and a new version of Harvey Dent.

Joker was set in 1981, introducing a new take on the origin story of the Joker, perhaps one of DC Comics’ most iconic and recognizable villains. Usually depicted as Batman’s archenemy, Joker saw Arthur Fleck become the titular villain years before Bruce Wayne would find his calling as Batman, and the film even saw Arthur interact with a young Bruce Wayne and showcased the deaths of Bruce’s parents. Assuming Joker: Folie à Deux picks up soon after the ending of Joker, Gotham City would still be without its Batman, but this could pose a problem for the upcoming DC Elseworlds project, as more Batman-related characters are expected to be introduced.

Joker 2 Will Really Struggle To Ignore Batman

2019’s Joker focused on Arthur Fleck’s descent into darkness to become the Joker, so the fact that Batman was missing from the film wasn’t so jarring, particularly since a lot of Arthur’s anger was directed at Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne. However, there was confusion regarding whether Arthur Fleck would be the official Joker, as he would be an aging man by the time Bruce Wayne finally donned the cape and cowl. Joker: Folie à Deux is expected to see Arthur fully embrace his new identity, as well as strike up a relationship with Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, forming the infamous partnership that has faced Batman several times in DC’s history.

To add fuel to the fire, it was revealed in May 2023 that Harvey Dent will appear in Joker: Folie à Deux, adding another villain from Batman’s rogues gallery from DC Comics. Dent is intrinsically connected to Bruce Wayne and Batman in DC Comics, being seen to be a close personal friend to Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon, so it’s hard to imagine Harvey Dent appearing in Joker: Folie à Deux without there being a mention of Batman himself. Where Joker perhaps made a point of debuting the Joker without Batman, it will be much harder to ignore the Dark Knight in Joker: Folie à Deux.

Joker 2 Including Batman Is Also A Major Challenge

While it might make sense for Batman to appear in Joker: Folie à Deux to finally battle Arthur Fleck and his new allies, this poses an even greater challenge for Todd Phillips. Even though Ben Affleck won’t be returning as the DCEU’s Bruce Wayne after his final appearance in 2023’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Robert Pattinson’s Batman will develop in The Batman – Part II and beyond, and a new actor will assume the role for James Gunn’s new DCU, debuting in The Brave and the Bold. This means that introducing yet another version of Batman in the Joker franchise might start to over-saturate the hero.

On top of this, the fact that Bruce Wayne was only a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 in 2019’s Joker suggests that his transformation into Batman is still a number of years away. The Joker, Harley Quinn, and now Harvey Dent have all been introduced to the franchise as adults while Bruce Wayne is still young, so it’s difficult to imagine any of these grown characters entering into battle with Bruce Wayne as he currently is. Since Bruce Wayne was only a young boy in Joker, it does seem unlikely that Batman will be seen in Todd Phillips’ franchise so soon, though there are ways that Joker: Folie à Deux could work around this issue.

How Joker 2 Can Overcome Its Batman Problem

One of the most entertaining qualities of Joker was the fact that Arthur Fleck himself was an unreliable narrator, with much of the story – most notably his relationship with Zazie Beetz’s Sophie Dumond – being completely fabricated. Joker: Folie à Deux could lean into this further, as one theory suggests that Batman already exists in the Joker franchise and that the events of Joker were simply Arthur remembering his past, though imagining himself as he is in the present day, rather than as a younger man. This would allow Joker: Folie à Deux to introduce a Batman while staying true to the mystery and subversion of the original film.

Joker: Folie à Deux could be set a number of years after Joker, perhaps allowing Bruce Wayne to have aged up enough to don the cape and cowl for the first time and set out to find the man responsible for his parents’ deaths – though this would still be pitting a young Batman against an adult Joker. During production on Matt Reeves’ The Batman, many expected Robert Pattinson to be portraying Joker’s Batman, though this was later debunked. It’s also possible that Todd Phillips could negate introducing Batman at all, allowing the villains of Joker: Folie à Deux to rise to power with no Caped Crusader to stop them.

Source: screenrant.com