Joker 2 theory explains why it’s a musical

Joker 2 — aka Joker: Folie à Deux — is set to be a jukebox musical, and after the first trailer, fans already have a theory that explains everything.

The first trailer for Joker 2 emphasizes its musical elements, scored to a twinkly rendition of ‘What the World Needs Now is Love’ as it shows Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn dancing with Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix), a prison choir, and even a reference to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

It seems like the movie will follow Arthur and Harley as they break out of Arkham Asylum and wreak havoc across Gotham in a series of dreamy, presumably violent song-and-dance numbers.

There’s a theory that’s already been echoed by several viewers: what if all of the musical moments take place inside their heads? After all, Folie à Deux essentially means shared madness.

“I have a feeling 95% of this takes place in some fantasy world while they’re still locked inside Arkham. Any of those shots outside is all in their heads,” one Redditor speculated.

“It reminds me of Dancer in the Dark where the musical numbers are just Björk’s character seeing the world differently,” another commented. “Yup, I have the same strong feeling that a very big part of this movie (100% sure on the musical sequences) will happen exclusively in their minds,” a third wrote.

“Reminds me of Sucker Punch. The main girl creates fantasy scenarios in her mind of finding a way to escape the asylum she’s in,” a fourth wrote. “The fact that she’s mimicking alot of the iconic shots from the first movie [Pulling under her eye lids, wiping blood across her lips, finger gun to her head] leads me to believe she might be a hallucination. But surely they won’t play that angle again?” a fifth added.

“Well it’s very implied that a large chunk of the Joker film was also a delusion created in Arthur’s mind. My favorite part of the movie is that it makes you question if any of it really happened and if he’s really just been stuck in Arkham this whole time. So I hope the sequel doesn’t ruin that by confirming anything,” a sixth wrote.

Joker: Folie à Deux premieres on October 4, 2024. Find out everything else we know about the movie, and what other films you should be watching this month.