If Batman does not appear in Joker 2the film nevertheless presents the origin of one of his greatest adversaries… and not only that of the Joker.
The release of the long awaited (or dreaded) Joker: Folie à Deux unleashes passions, while the clown has not reproduced the little miracle of Joker. Highlighted for its shaky storyline and half-fulfilled ambitions, DC’s latest crashed at the box office for its first weekend in theaters, 5 years after the phenomenal success of its predecessor.
The icing on the (bad) cake, Joker 2 betrayed its initial note of intent with a disappointing ending, presenting the origins of this universe’s true Clown Prince of Crime. Perpetually torn by its links with Batman, the feature film even allowed itself to secretly reveal the birth of another cult comic book antagonist.
Joker 2: Two-Face Madness
From JokerTodd Philipps has fun slip in some elements of the mythology of the Dark Knightif only to justify the DC logo at the beginning of the film. We could thus find Bruce Wayne’s parents (and their assassination) in the first opus, but also a certain Harvey Dent in the secondas a young prosecutor determined to send Arthur Fleck to the electric chair.
This name is obviously of major importance to any self-respecting Batman fan, since it is that of the villain Two-Faceclassic comic book antagonist. This is not his first appearance in the cinema, since we found him in the guise of Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Foreverbut also and above all under those of Aaron Eckhart in the brilliant The Dark Knight.
And if the future villain does not face Batman in the film, Todd Philipps did not miss the opportunity to subtly integrate its origin story into the storythrough a shot at the time of the court explosion. We can then see young Harvey on the ground, part of his face burned by the flames. A totally intentional choice according to the directoras he explained to Entertainment Weekly :
Yes of course this shot symbolizes the origin of Two-Face. We tried to give a realistic answer to why certain things happen. Why does he have this face? All we’re doing is saying, “Let’s use this story as a basis, but let’s put it through a realistic lens, or at least a different lens than has been used in other things.” , in order to make it our own.”
Todd Philipps, director of Joker: Folie à Deux, Entertainment Weekly
Joker 2 therefore offers the origin of two future adversaries of Batmansince the film also dares to give an answer to the question of the identity of the real Joker. However, the fate of Harvey Dent holds more of the fun easter egg than high treason. Just his presence in the feature film suggested that the director was going to allude to his sinister destiny.
Through his two films in the DC universe, Todd Philipps therefore juggled some major elements of the Batman mythologywithout ever approaching it directly: the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents, the birth of Harvey Dent, then that of the Joker. Which should remain his only contribution to the franchise, since he already confirmed that Joker: Folie à Deux would be his last DC film.
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