Lady Gaga's casting in director Todd Phillips "Joker: Folie à Deux" suddenly makes a lot more sense. While the performer has proven adept at acting in projects like "A Star Is Born," she's known first and foremost as a singer. "Joker 2" will seemingly allow her to showcase that skill, as Variety has confirmed that the comic book movie sequel will be a full-blown musical. That's right — don't expect just a song or two. Variety claims there are at least 15 covers performed in the film, making "Joker 2" a jukebox musical.
The article suggests there could be one or two original songs as well, which would open the door for a Best Original Song nomination at the Academy Awards. However, audiences should expect to mainly experience reinventions of previously-made songs, including, apparently, "That's Entertainment," which was first used in the 1953 musical movie "The Band Wagon." Hildur Guðnadóttir, who won the 2019 Oscar for Best Score for "Joker," is back this time around and has reportedly worked closely on all of the songs to ensure they have the same dark, foreboding tone.
Warner Bros. has yet to comment on the report, but "Joker: Folie à Deux" fan theories that the sequel would incorporate musical elements have swirled for a while. Alleged "Joker 2" test screening reactions have already praised Lady Gaga's performance, and if she is indeed singing throughout the movie, it would certainly explain why she shines in this tale of mad love.
Fans are cautiously optimistic about Joker 2 being a jukebox musical
"Joker: Folie à Deux" being a musical is noteworthy in large part because the first movie was decidedly not one. It's a huge leap to shift a comic book property to a whole new genre while doing justice to characters as popular as Joker and Harley Quinn. However, fans are taking the news in stride, with many excited that the sequel is taking such a big risk.
A thread emerged on Reddit discussing the musical aspects of "Joker 2," including the belief that all of the musical numbers could simply be delusions. It was already established in the first "Joker" that Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) isn't fully grounded in reality, and Redditor u/ChazzLamborghini suggests Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn could experience similar delusions. "That's what I'm thinking. Harley is where the musical numbers will come from." It would be in line with "Joker: Folie à Deux" giving away the plot in the title, with "Folie à Deux" referring to a shared madness. One or both will likely be envisioning these musical numbers, solidifying how they become connected in the first place.
Regardless of how the musical numbers are incorporated into the plot, many people, like u/TreyWriter, are just glad to see a comic book movie do something different. "Honestly, a big swing like this is the only reason I'll watch the sequel," the Redditor said. "Give me something other than 'another Joker movie, I guess." With superhero fatigue seemingly setting in for many audiences, a musical may be just the thing to get people to perk up and take notice. Some will undoubtedly hate the addition of songs in a sequel to a gritty psychological thriller, but doing something this off-the-wall is, at its core, somehow fitting a character like the Joker.
