News broke earlier today, and I was honestly not sure if it was a prank at first. The first part made sense. Lady Gaga was being considered for the role of Harley Quinn in the sequel to Todd Phillips’ The Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix. The second part was what had me confused… Musical Sequel.
According to THR, the film, which is currently titled Joker: Folie à deux, is slated to be a musical. If that’s truly the case, having Lady Gaga on board would be a major win, but it feels like that would be a little jarring for audiences who gushed over the Scorsessi-inspired first film that felt more like Taxi Driver and King of Comedy than anything you’d want to sing to.
I think the bigger issue will be the relationship between Joker and Harley. While the first film was able to make The Joker a character that a lot of audiences could root for, it’s going to be a challenge to capture the heavily abusive relationship that they have been shown to have in comics, cartoons, and even previous movies without there being serious backlash.