In under two months, Joker: Folie à Deux will continue the story that began in 2019’s Joker movie. And while the natural inclination of Hollywood is to push for more sequels, director Todd Phillips is preemptively shooting down the idea of making Joker 3 to complete a trilogy for Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck/Joker.
“It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world,” said Phillips during a new interview with Variety. While the director is seemingly closing the door on another Joker movie, he’s eager to reteam with Phoenix on a more light-hearted project.
“I’d love to keep working with Joaquin but on a comedy, because he can be so loose and funny,” noted Phillips. “And I think people really want comedies right now. The trailer for Joker 2 sort of sums things up when it says, ‘What the world needs now is love.’ But I would go farther: We could use a good laugh too.”