It definitely appears that Warner Bros. is trying to distract us from the fact that it just threw away almost a hundred million dollars for nothing.
After filming on Batgirl wrapped up earlier this year, Warner Bros. just "confirmed" that the upcoming HBO Max comic book film will no longer premiere at all despite being a finished product.
Now, according to Lady Gaga, the upcoming Joker sequel will premiere on October 4, 2024, five years exactly after the original film came out.
Joker: Folie à Deux
10.04.24 pic.twitter.com/obp7T9lBFL— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) August 4, 2022
The talks of a Joker sequel have floated around the internet since the award-winning film came out in 2019. The smash hit starring Joaquin Phoenix received both critical acclaim and commercial success. To date, Joker remains the highest-grossing R-rated film at the global box office and the only one to breach the billion-dollar mark.
So, despite the uncertainty surrounding a follow-up, no one was really surprised when the film's co-writer and director, Todd Philipps, confirmed that Joker 2 is in the works with later rumors suggesting that Lady Gaga has joined the cast as Harley Quinn.
Fast forward to today and the A Star Is Born actress just proved the truth behind all the rumors with a single tweet.
But, what does Joker 2 have to do with Batgirl? Everything. The timing of the announcement of the release date of Joker 2 lines up with the Batgirl cancelation. Warner Bros. isn't being subtle about wanting to "bury" the Batgirl news. Not to mention, Joker and the upcoming sequel aren't part of the DC Extended Universe, but the follow-up is a bigger film with more at stake.
We've heard that Warner Bros. wants to make incoming DC films more spectacular. This would explain why Ben Affleck just signed on to reprise his role as Batman just months after explaining why he hung up the cape and cowl.
Joker had little in the way of spectacles. It was dark, dreary, and downright depressing. But, if Joker 2 really ends up being a musical with Harley Quinn, then we don't think that you can get bigger spectacles than that.
In the meantime, DC fans can look forward to this year's first DCEU film, Black Adam. The Dwayne Johnson-led comic book movie will hit theaters on October 21.
