Joker 2 trailer secretly reveals major Batman villain

A new trailer for Joker sequel Folie à Deux has dropped and subtly revealed that a major Batman villain will be in the movie.

The new Joker 2 trailer is currently making waves online, featuring Joaquin Phoenix singing, Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn appearing in a variety show, and yet more nods to The King of Comedy.

But if you stick the subtitles on said trailer, there’s a huge reveal early in proceedings, concerning one of the big Batman characters.

The trailer begins with Fleck sitting in the back of a police car, as we hear a character called Paddy Meyers state “Two years ago, the name Arthur Fleck hit Gotham like a hurricane.”

A reporter then calls what’s happening “The trial of the century.” Another voice states “They believe Arthur Fleck to be some kind of martyr, but he’s not. He’s a monster.”

With the subtitles on, that voice is revealed to belong to… Harvey Dent.

In the Batman comics, Dent is Gotham City’s District Attorney, who following an accident involving acid, goes mad, becomes heavily scarred, and turns into super-villain Two-Face.

There’s no word yet regarding who plays Dent in Joker: Folie à Deux, but the character has a long and storied history in the previous Batman movies.

Billy Dee Williams plays Harvey Dent in the 1989 Batman, though we never get to see his Two-Face. Instead, Tommy Lee Jones plays a pretty broad version of both versions of the character in 1995’s Batman Forever.

But the most celebrated incarnation is Aaron Eckhart’s take in 2008’s The Dark Knight, which manages to be both terrifying and heartbreaking. This version of Two-Face doesn’t make it into sequel The Dark Knight Rises, but casts a shadow over that movie thanks to the ‘Dent Act,’ which is designed to eradicate organized crime.

As for the Joker 2’s Harvey Dent, we don’t yet know if it’s simply a voice cameo, if he’s the film’s villain, or if Harvey’s being set up for a Two-Face turn in Part 3. But we’ll let you know as soon as any news on that front breaks.

Joker Folie à Deux premieres at the Venice Film Festival, then hits screens worldwide on October 4, 2024. Before then you can check out where the first Joker film placed on our list of the 50 greatest superhero movies. As well as our guide to the best movies out this month.