FACE THE MUSIC

JOKER: FOLIE ÀDEUX

Phoenix and Gaga perform a diabolical duet.

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Following the events of 2019’s Joker, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is incarcerated in the famed Arkham Asylum. It might look drab in Arthur’s cell, but the guard’s wake-up call of ‘It’s showtime!’ hints at the musical aspects of Todd Phillips’ sequel that are yet to be fully revealed.

At CinemaCon, Phillips said music is ‘an essential element’, stopping short of calling the film a musical. The trailer certainly has some whimsical features that seem musical-inspired, like the guards’ colourful umbrellas. ‘We use music to make us whole,’ Arthur says in the voiceover.

But Arthur isn’t alone any more. Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn features in the trailer, and from the looks of it she’s a patient, not a doctor as she is in the comics. But, as is usual for the pair, they’re inexplicably drawn to one another. ‘We cast Gaga because she’s magic,’ says Phillips.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Harley says as the duo escape to Arkham’s roof (with Arkham Hotel written in neon lights) for a romantic dance in the moonlight. It then cuts to them strutting outside: could some of the movie’s musical-influenced moments be dream sequences?

One thing remains the same for Gaga’s Harley: her relationship with the Joker is transformative. Towards the end of the trailer, she is seen painting on her own clown make-up - and, like Arthur’s, it’s suitably messy. This promises to be the tale of them becoming partners in crime.

‘I want to see the real you,’ Harley says, painting a smile on the glass as she visits Arthur in prison. He grins, the smile lining up perfectly with his own. The film will surely see them bring out the worst in each other. ‘It doesn’t veer too far from the first film,’ promises Phillips.

JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX OPENS IN CINEMAS ON 4 OCTOBER.