'Joker 2' is Getting Real

DC's 2019 film Joker is hard to sum up in a word other than surreal. Credit Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar-winning performance for that. The film's ending left viewers desperate for answers. They wanted more. Now, it appears a sequel is actually on the way.

Rumors of a sequel have circulated since the film's debut. Bizarrely, the most concrete reports have come buried in long pieces published by The Hollywood Reporter.

The first came on May 5, lost in the middle of the article "Behind Warner Bros.’ Search for a Black Superman."

Thursday in THR's "Power Lawyers 2021: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys" list, it was revealed that Todd Phillips, director and producer of Joker, "struck a deal to co-write the next Joker installment."

That's twice now, and this story even notes that Phillips is on board once again.

Hardcore fans are speculating that the word "installment" instead of "sequel" could mean either an anthology or prequel film. I like the thinking, though the first article used the word "sequel," so I'm expecting Joker 2.

Given how these reports have come, buried inside columns that have nothing to do with the film, it makes you wonder whether DC has planned these seemingly random releases. Seems Joker-like. Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, that is.

My hopes for The Godfather Part IV are dead. I'm onto Joker 2.