'Joker' Sequel A Possibility; A Cast Member Talks About A Spoiler-Heavy Twist
Joker was a smash-hit over the weekend. That would usually all-but-assure that a sequel would be in the works. But Joker isn't your typical comic book adaptation, and star Joaquin Phoenix has tended to avoid franchises in his career. But a Joker sequel might just happen. According to Phoenix, he and director Todd Phillips had such a good time making the first movie that there are "endless" possibilities for the character.
In addition to this news, Joker co-star Brett Cullen, who plays Thomas Wayne in the flick, has some thoughts on a spoiler-heavy twist.
Joker Sequel?
When it comes to Joker, all bets are off. There was a time when I never, ever thought Joaquin Phoenix would do a movie like this. Not because he's "above it", but just because it didn't seem to be his type of material. Phoenix was heavily courted by Marvel to star in Doctor Strange, but the actor turned it down because he didn't want to commit to multiple films. However, Phoenix eventually came around to the comic book world with Joker, and now he's talking about a potential sequel. In the video below, Phoenix talks with Rolling Stone about making the dark, violent comic book movie, and during the course of the interview, mention of a sequel arises.
"It's nothing that I really wanted to do prior to working on this movie," Phoenix said, leading Rolling Stone's Peter Travers to inquire if there's "more to do" with the character for future movies. "I don't know that there is," Phoenix replies, adding: "Me and Todd would still be shooting now if we could, right? Because it seemed endless, the possibilities of where we can go with the character."
Phoenix also says:
"You know, I wouldn't have thought about this as my dream role. But now, honestly, I can't stop thinking about it. I talked to Todd a lot about what else we might be able to do, in general, just to work together, but also specifically, if there's something else we can do with Joker that might be interesting."
As you can see for yourself, Phoenix isn't saying there will be a sequel. But he certainly isn't ruling it out, either. He's taking a "never say never" approach to the whole thing. We'll have to see how it plays out.
Brett Cullen On a Big Joker Twist
Spoilers follow.
More than halfway through Joker, the film throws a whopper of a twist at us: Arthur Fleck, AKA the man who becomes the Joker, discovers that Thomas Wayne is his illegitimate father due to an affair with Arthur's mother Penny, who used to work for the Wayne family. That would make the Joker the half-brother of Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman. However, after confronting Thomas Wayne, and then stealing some medical records, Arthur discovers that he's not Thomas Wayne's son after all. Instead, his mentally ill mother made the whole thing up.
Or did she?
Brett Cullen, who plays Thomas Wayne in Joker, has a theory of his own regarding this twist. According to Cullen, he thinks that Wayne and the Joker's mother did have an affair and that he eventually had her committed to an insane asylum. He doesn't go as far as confirming that Joker is indeed Wayne's son, but it does leave the door open to the idea.
"The backstory was that Arthur's mother had worked for Thomas in his home, and she was a beautiful woman who Thomas was attracted to and it led to a physical relationship," Cullen said (via THR). "Later in life, she's in and out of mental institutions. And in my mind, Thomas Wayne put her there."