Joker 2 director reveals Arthur Fleck’s surprising reaction to Batman

Todd Phillips, the director behind the upcoming movie Joker 2, has given his two cents on how he thinks his version of the Clown Prince would react to meeting the Caped Crusader.

Two of Gotham City’s most famous figures are currently dominating Hollywood with Matt Reeves‘ anticipated sequel The Batman 2 and Phillips’ juke box musical Joker: Folie à Deux.

However, while the two men may come from the same source material, they won’t cross paths on the big screen any time soon.

But that hasn’t stopped Phillips from imagining how his version of Arthur Fleck would react if he had the chance to come face to face with Batman, telling IGN, “I think Arthur would be in awe of the alpha male that is Batman. I really do. I think Arthur would look up and appreciate it. I think he’d be in awe of that.”

Warner Bros. Pictures

He continued, “Arthur always had a fascination with men at ease, and he is not a man at ease. [Robert De Niro’s] Murray Franklin in the first movie was a man at ease. He probably saw the guys he worked with as men at ease, and that was the one thing that Arthur could never be was a man at ease.”

It’s not unreasonable to believe that Arthur would be a bit obsessed with Batman, as the pair have shared that kind of relationship for decades.

From their interactions in the Batman comics to their appearance in both animated and live-action form, Joker has always been very upfront for his twisted love for Batman, seeing the caped crusader as his equal and thus worthy of his unusual form of respect.

Phillips could’ve explored this dynamic between Joker and Batman in a third movie, but the director has confirmed that he has no plans to turn the Joker franchise into a trilogy.

However, Phillips isn’t opposed to seeing a version of Batman in the universe he created sometime down the line.

“It’d be interesting to see somebody do a Batman movie in this vein that follows that guy 10 years later or whatever,” he added. “If he’s 12 or 11 there and okay 15 years later becoming Batman in that world. Yeah, I think that’d be really interesting.”

Joker 2 releases in theaters on October 4, 2024. In the meantime, check out our guides to the best movies of 2024 so far and all of the movies streaming in September. You can also keep up with the best TV shows streaming this month.