First Teaser Features The Return Of Joaquin Phoenix As Arthur Fleck

The first trailer for Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux is set to be released later today during CinemaCon, and the director has now taken to social media to share the first official footage from the DC “Elseworlds” sequel.

The teaser spotlights the return of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), as he stands in the rain laughing uncontrollably. We also get to hear some of Hildur Guðnadóttir’s new score.

The last time we saw Arthur, he had seemingly embraced his new “Joker” persona after murdering talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) live on air and being locked away in a psychiatric hospital. He clearly escapes at some point, possibly with the help of a certain Doctor Harleen Quinzel.

There’s no sign of Lady Gaga’s take on Harley Quinn here, but she’s sure to make an appearance in the full trailer.

While some fans are a little resistant to the idea of a follow-up to Phillips’ dark psychological thriller being a musical, others have embraced the concept. We’re still not sure exactly how these songs will be implemented into the story, but rumor has it that the narrative will be split between Harley and Fleck’s skewed perspectives, so there’s a chance the musical numbers will simply be part of the characters’ delusions (Fleck imagined his entire relationship with Sofie Dummond in the first film, after all).

Whatever form the songs take, we have heard that the soundtrack will be “heavily inspired” by classic Liza Minnelli musicals such as Cabaret, New York, New York, and That’s Entertainment. This isn’t really too surprising, since Lady Gaga is a big Minelli fan.

We still don’t know if the pop megastar is actually writing the soundtrack, but we’d say there’s a decent chance she’ll pen at least one song for the movie.

In addition to Phoenix and Gaga, Joker 2 will see the return of Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond, along with new cast members Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland and Harry Lawtey in undisclosed roles.

The sequel won’t take place in the same world as the main DCU, and will be known as an “Elseworlds” project, along with Matt Reeves’ The Batman movies, J.J. Abrams’ Superman film, and Constantine 2 (if they happen).

Joker: Folie à Deux is set to hit theaters on October 4, 2024. It’s been rated R for, “some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity.”