Posted by It’s probably one of the biggest news that came out this year for movie fans: Joker 2, the sequel of 2019 movie is coming, and we will see again the director Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix interpreting the famous villain of Batman universe. There is still no trailer and no images, just the official confirmation that the movie is already in the works, probably coming out in the end of 2023. But there is already enough material to trigger questions and theories: what is Folie A Duex, the sequel subtitle already confirmed? And how does it relate with the plot, with Joker and his story? In this article we will delve into the meaning of Folie A Deux and the main theories about the movie plot.
Joker 2: the meaning of Folie a deux
Folie à deux is a french term that literally means “‘folly of two” and refers to a psychiatric disorder where a psychosis is transmitted from one individual to another, or it emerges simultaneously in two people who are strictly connected. They could be in a relationship, belonging to same family or strongly connected for other reasons.
Most likely, this would mean that in the sequel Joker will experience a new form of psychosis that will be somehow shared with another person. Who can be this person? There are some theories already on about it, proposed by the fans of the Batman universe. Below you will find the main ones.
Joker 2 – Folie A Deux: the main theories about the story
So there is a second person who will share the same kind of psychotic disorder with Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. Who can it be? Here the main theories:
Harley Quinn
We know that at some point in his life, Joker will fall in love for Harley Queen, the character that was interpreted by Margot Robbie in the other series of Joker movies starring Jared Leto. Since the most frequent form of Folie A Duex takes place with the sentimental partner, and since we know that Harley Queen shared with Joker a set of psychosis, the theory is that Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel will introduce Harley Queen.
This would be a big change from the first movie, though. That’s why some other fans have a different theory…
Batman himself
This theory is particularly interesting. The basis of this hypothesis is that originally Batman wasn’t a lucid character, but had to experience a difficult moment before becoming the hero we know. And the two characters would then live a tough moment of their life simultaneously.
There is a never produced Batman movie that was supposed to be directed by Darren Aronofsky in 2002, with the title Batman: Year One, inspired by Frank Miller’s comics. In this story, after his parents die, Bruce Wayne loses all his money and becomes homeless. This story tells the true genesis of Batman, from a homeless and hopeless character to a hero who fights the crime in Gotham. That would set the conditions for some shared discomfort that both the Joker and Batman experience before becoming the characters of the comics. Here you can find more about this cancelled project.
If this is true, it’s possible that Joker’s sequel will follow up with both Joker and Batman stories and the troubles they will both live. There could be a sort of mutual respect in that phase, where probably Joker wouldn’t be willing yet to kill Batman, if he had the chance. And this would make the story more intriguing.
Who will be the other psychotic character in Joker 2?
There are some minor theories that refer to other people, even getting as far as supposing the introduction of a Joker’s son, but the main suspects of Joker’s Folie à deux are the two we mentioned above: Batman or Harley Quinn. For the answer, we will have to wait new rumours to come out. Probably soon.
