Joker director Todd Phillips has been sorta flakey on the idea of sequels for his DC Comics movie, usually putting it on star Joaquin Phoenix whether they'd reunite, while also pushing that this was always designed as a standalone effort. So which one is it? The $230M opening weekend has to be a factor, doesn't it? You know Warner Bros. wants to make it happen. And as for Phoenix, he's beginning to sound like he's up to don the clown makeup once more.
Appearing on the Popcorn with Peter Travers show, Phoenix says there are endless possibilities for more Joker stories. He says enough that I can already here WB execs dialing up his agent with an offer...
“You know, I wouldn’t have thought about this as my dream role. But now, honestly, I can’t stop thinking about it,” said Phoenix. “I talked to Todd a lot about what else we might be able to do, in general, just to work together, but also specifically, if there’s something else we can do with Joker that might be interesting. So, it ended up being a dream role. It’s nothing that I really wanted to do prior to working on this movie.”
There was a caveat, of course, which is to be expected from the guy who has famously shot down numerous superhero films including Doctor Strange...
“I don’t know that there is [more to do]. Me and Todd would still be shooting now if we could, right? Because it seemed endless, the possibilities of where we can go with the character.”
So yeah, there may not be anything to do with Joker, but then he said it "seemed endless". Which one is it? Either way, expect WB to make a push to bring Phoenix and Phillips back, and I still believe they'll find a way to tie it in to Matt Reeves' The Batman.
