Everything
With the announcement that director Todd Phillips was now working on a sequel to his anarchic 2019 hit Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role that bagged the actor his first Oscar, fans have already latched on to some wild theories on how, what, where and who will be associated with the follow up film. Perhaps one of the wildest theories was that Lady Gaga might be signing up to play the role of Harley Quinn.
But as it turns out, some wild rumours may have some basis in fact. Today, in article from The Hollywood Reporter, sources have confirmed that Todd Phillips is indeed in talks to bring on Lady Gaga to play the popular antiheroine whose relationship with Joker, real name Arthur Fleck, is problematic to say the least. According to canon, Quinn is Joker’s psychiatrist while he is in Arkham Asylum before developing feelings for her patient, a sort of reverse De Clerambault’s syndrome.
The working title of the next movie does give some clue as to what the storyline could involve and why Gaga might be the perfect choice for the role. On Instagram, Phillips dropped a teaser as to the potential title of the new project, which he has called Joker: Folie à deux. This term references a medical condition where an identical or similar mental disorder affects two or more individuals, most usually who are members of the same family.
Gaga’s casting also suggests that Phillips will once again playing with genres to tell the tale of Batman’s most infamous nemesis. In Joker, Fleck became a symbol of a broken system and the gap between the wealthy and the poor – an accidental antihero as opposed to evil mastermind in the traditional DC universe. For Joker: Folie à deux, Gaga’s potential casting hints that Phillips could be tapping into her singing chops in order to create a noir musical to tell their story.
For her part, Gaga has already proven she can throw down with the best of them when it comes to performance. She won an Emmy for her role in the American Horror Story anthologies, was lauded for her interpretation of the leading role in A Star Is Born and even the mixed reviews for House of Gucci still praised her performance, Russian accent and all.
