Joaquin Phoenix Is Interested In Coming Back As Arthur Fleck

Irrespective of what the rumor mill is churning, Joaquin Phoenix has no idea about any Joker sequels. But he is not closed to reprising his role.

It is not surprising that both fans and the industry may want more of Phoenix’s Joker that took the box office by a storm. Despite the commercial success and Warner Bros’ subsequent encouragement, director Todd Phillips has denied having concrete plans for a sequel.

In May, The Hollywood Reporter did publish on Hollywood’s top lawyers, which had a snippet from lawyer Warren Dern about Phillips striking a deal to co-write Joker 2.

If the director is secretly working on something, the lead actor has no clue about it, as expressed in his latest interview with The Playlist. Phoenix point-blank shrugs with a non-committal response about knowing nothing about a sequence or even being approached about it.

I mean, I dunno. From when we were shooting, we started to —you know, uhh, this is an interesting guy. There are some things we could do with this guy and could [explore] further. But as to whether we actually will? I don’t know.

Joaquin Phoenix

A year prior to Joker’s development, Phoenix had spent a great deal dancing around the film before finally committing to it. The actor is known to be quite private and selective about the roles he undertakes.

So, when prodded further about whether a Joker sequel is something he’s even interested in, he played it off with “What kind of thing? Interesting character, interesting movie?” This might be yet another Joaquin Phoenix way of saying he might reprise the role if a good enough story comes through.

One of Joker’s many appeals was its noir introspection into the infamous villain, dabbing into social criticism and mass mania. I believe as Phillips envisioned it as a standalone, we should just let Joker be. Don’t fix what’s not broken and all of that.

Instead, if DC really wants to ride on the Joker wave, they could go about their plans for DC Black, where they explore more characters in a similarly mature and experimental fashion. There are plenty in DC’s roster who could do with such a rendition.  

About Joker

Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Todd Phillips, who also wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film, based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and provides an alternative origin story for the character. Produced by Warner Bros. among others, it also stars Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron in supporting roles.

Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and standup comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City.

Source: The Playlist