Joker’s Mild: Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Becomes a Box-Office Punchline

 

No, I didn’t see Joker: Folie à Deux this past weekend … and apparently, neither did a lot of people. As reported by Variety, the $200 million musical sequel to 2019’s billion-dollar Joker pulled in a paltry $40 million domestically in its opening weekend. So, why we did all steer clear this time around?

Well, it’s complicated. Indeed, many fans of the first film were less-than-enthused by the singing-and-dancing slant of the sequel, and not even the star power of Lady Gaga as the Harley Quinn to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker (a.k.a. Arthur Fleck) could pull her legions of Little Monsters into Todd Phillips’ dark, dirty and depressing Gotham a second time. Apathetic-to-antagonistic early buzz and a general “does this movie need to exist?” sentiment among moviegoers resulted in a collective shrug that delivered yet another DC Comics loss for Warner Bros. Discovery.

But let’s be real – are these actually DC Comics movies? Aside from the grease paint, a character called “Harley Quinn,” references to the Wayne family and Arkham and, of course, the aforementioned Gotham setting, do these movies really have much of anything to do with the source material? I’d argue that the connection is tenuous at best even in the original film, serving to give Phillips the chance to craft his ultimate tribute to Martin Scorcese classics like Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy under the guise of an IP-driven blockbuster. Heck, Phillips reportedly had zero contact with DC Studios during production of the sequel, which is wild considering that The Joker is the arch-nemesis of their most lucrative character.  

And that’s the thing. Consider that Deadpool & Wolverine grossed more than $1.3 billion this summer – a film that wore its pulpy roots on its spandex sleeve. Based on its intentional divide from the source material – even moreso than that of the first film – Joker: Folie à Deux is a throwback to a time when filmmakers were embarassed to make comic book movies. And that’s not the kind of nostalgia that sells.

But things are looking up, up and away for DC Studios, whose James Gunn-helmed Superman kicks off a whole new live-action era for Marvel’s Distinguished Competition. Until then, it seems like DC’s most notorious criminal has been defeated … but not by Batman.

James Gunn Wins Tuesday with ‘Guardians’ Holiday Special Trailer and Huge DC News

 

James Gunn has brought me much joy in my life. Both Guardians of the Galaxy films are treasured in my household – they’re the reason my wife and I chose “Hooked on a Feeling” as our wedding song – and I thoroughly enjoyed his DC projects, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. In fact, I made genuine attempts to learn the dance from the Peacemaker opening, and those would-be TikTok videos will forever remain in my Drafts.

But the world wasn’t exactly sure what to think of Gunn just a few years ago. He was fired by Marvel Studios when some unfortunate older tweets were resurfaced and circulated in the summer of 2018. The since-deleted posts were intentionally “edgy” and, as such, were not only in bad taste at the time but aged horrifically. 

Gunn’s Marvel ousting resulted in him being brought into the DC fold for the aforementioned Suicide Squad sequel/reboot, which made sense given Gunn’s affinity for heroic-but-not-always-morally-sound misfits. Additionally, though, Gunn and Marvel’s eventual reconciliation resulted in a third Guardians film and a holiday special. Gunn also continued to build on John Cena’s Peacemaker character with an outstanding HBO Max series. Rarely has a creator had his foot planted in both the MCU and DCEU, but Gunn has managed to do it. 

That all leads us to today, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, when Marvel Studios dropped an amazing trailer for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special that gives us an aged-up (and buff?) Groot, a holiday adventure on Earth and “The Legendary” Kevin Bacon. While fans reveled in Drax and Mantis breaking into the Footloose star’s home as part of a kidnapping “Christmas present,” DC had a reveal of their own, as broken by The Hollywood Reporter: Gunn will serve as co-CEO of DC Studios alongside producer Peter Safran. They’ll be replacing former DC Films head Walter Hamada, who left the studio last week. Whether or not that has something to do with the chilly critical reception to Black Adam is anyone’s guess.

Given Gunn’s comedic sensibilities, I can imagine that him heading up creative for DC Studios has grimdark-favorable Zack Snyder fans foaming at the mouth (I’m sure there’s already a Twitter petition out there calling for his removal). And yet, on the heels of Henry Cavill formally announcing that he’s back as Superman with more projects to come, perhaps Gunn will be the person to bring DC’s film universe into the light … and keep it there.

Speaking of light, check out the trailer for Marvel Studios’ The Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special below!