Who's To Blame For Joker 2?

After years of development, the new DC Universe film Joker: Folie à Deux has finally hit theaters, and the film’s initial box office performance has been disastrous, leading to questions about who is to blame for DC’s latest failure. Audience interest has not been kind to DC in the past few years, and Joker 2‘s box office numbers clearly suggest that the film will likely be another miss for Warner Bros. Discovery. Movie performance is multifaceted, but there are several errors in making this film that have begun to become clear.

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Following The Flash‘s historic bombing despite bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman, it seems that the studio is struggling to connect with audiences. Following a middling performance by Black Adam and incredible failures of films as different as Blue Beetle, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and now Joker 2, it seems that nothing the studio is doing is resonating. There is hope that the relaunch of the DC Universe with 2025’s Superman may change this, although understanding what went wrong with movies like Joker: Folie á Deux – and who is responsible – is key to moving forward.

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Walter Hamada & Toby Emmerich Had Key Roles In Joker 2’s Creation

The Former Film Heads Of Warner Bros. And DC Got The Film Off The Ground

Some of the blame for Joker 2‘s failure may stand with the old studio regime, meaning no one may ultimately be held responsible. The Hollywood Reporter’s piece looking at the fallout of the movie also outlined former Warner Bros. chair Toby Emmerich’s involvement with the new film, tying the two together. While Emmerich stepped down from Warner Bros. in 2022 to be replaced by Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, the deals for Joker 2 were largely already in place under his guidance. With the wheels rolling, nothing could be done to stop them.

Due to these deals, the budget for Joker‘s sequel, after the first film cost $55 million, ballooned significantly. The main forces behind the first film’s success, director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix, were able to command incredible paydays of $20 million each for the new sequel. They were also able to inflate the cost of the movie as a whole to around $190 million, a figure that they couldn’t even dream of for the first film.

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Joker 2 follows in its predecessor’s footsteps by blurring the line between reality and fantasy, with some scenes only happening in Arthur’s mind.

Walter Hamada, the former DC Films president, was less involved this time around. DC has been in a strange place of change and restructuring these past several years, which led to a lack of clarity surrounding accountability within the organization. This led to The Rock’s Black Adam turmoil among other things. Months before James Gunn and Peter Safran were brought in to form the new DC Studios, there was less oversight from this division. This lack could be partially accountable for the film’s failure.

David Zaslav’s Orders Appear To Factor Into Joker 2’s Creation

The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Pushed The Film Forward Into Production

David Zaslav has earned a bad reputation with some parts of DC’s audience after the cancellation of Batgirl, and the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery can be seen to have some part of the blame for the failure of Joker: Folie á Deux. Following Project Popcorn, an initiative from the studio in 2021 that saw their major films for the year simultaneously released in theaters and on HBO Max, the studio was in a poor place financially. Most of their 2021 films failed to make much money in theaters, and the streaming gains were not nearly as material.

David Zazlav was brought in as CEO following a merger with Discovery, and he had much to fix, and much debt to deal with. Many of the decisions that have come from this new regime have been unpopular, including the rebranding of HBO Max to simply Max, and cancelation of various film projects. However, Zazlav’s new authority did also come with a major pivot from streaming to theatrical releases, which appears to be the trend in the entire industry.

Related 9 Biggest Changes Joker 2 Makes To DC Canon

Joker: Folie a Deux is set in a far more bleak and grimy world than usual, and as such made some notable changes to DC characters and narratives.

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This brought a mandate to exploit more of the studio’s established intellectual property for major theatrical releases. Following this, it appeared that quality became less of a priority than the major release of films with some kind of recognition. After the incredible success of the first film, this seemed like it would be a home run. However, this was not what ended up being the case, raising questions about the points in the process that those not directly involved in the project could have altered its course.

Todd Phillips Has Some Key Responsibility For Joker 2 As Its Director

The Hangover Director Has A Poor Track Record With Sequels

Todd Phillips has worked in Hollywood for decades, and during this time the filmmaker has made a number of excellent films. From Old School to Due Date to The Hangover, the filmmaker has clearly established himself as having a good hand with comedy, but also with telling compelling original stories that resonate with mass audiences. While the first Joker was a step away from his comedy roots, and more akin to the poorly received War Dogs on his resume, the film worked.

Following the first film’s success, it made sense that the studio wished for another. However, it seemed that this was an inherent challenge, given the initial movie was seemingly created without any intention of a follow-up installment. Carrying a $20 million payday to explore his own world would be an exciting proposition for any filmmaker, but it’s also one that carries some key risks with it – which, in this case, appear to have not paid off in terms of critical reception.

Unfortunately, Phillips, who wrote the new film alongside Scott Silver, has not had much success with sequels, and this should have been a hint for everyone involved that this sequel may not turn out well. The director’s Hangover sequels were both poorly received critically, and each had diminishing returns from the box office. It seems that Phillips works best when he is exploring original stories, rather than returning to IP, even if it is IP that the filmmaker himself has generated.

Joaquin Phoenix Reportedly Is The Reason Joker 2 Began Being Made

The Actor Has Recently Faced Some Controversy

The Hollywood Reporter wrote an extensive piece on Joker 2‘s failure, ending with the assertion that “when asked who the intended audience was, one outside source sums it up this way: “For Joaquin.” “ It is not clear what outside source they are referring to, although this seems to suggest that Joaquin Phoenix is in large part to blame for the film being made. As the heart and soul of the first film – and its main character – it’s clear there is some reasoning as to why some would state this is the case.

Certainly, no sequel would have been made without Phoenix signing on to play the lead role once again. The iconoclastic actor was an instrumental part of getting the film into production, and the direction of the film. Speaking with ABC News in 2019, the actor said “I can’t stop thinking about it… if there’s something else, we can do with Joker that might be interesting.” This began as the idea for a Broadway show, but evolved into the resulting film.

Related Joaquin Phoenix Blamed For Joker 2 In Damning Report On Movie’s Failure

Arthur Fleck actor Joaquin Phoenix is reportedly being given the blame for the troubling results of Joker: Folie à Deux and how the sequel was made.

With such an interesting figure as its star, the film had to be something original and interesting to entice him back. Some of the film’s positive reviews celebrated Joker 2‘s originality, and these unusual features may have been instrumental in getting the actor to return to the role of Arthur Fleck. Unfortunately, they did not result in a film that connected with audiences, with Joker 2 often being referred to as more of an art film than a comic book blockbuster.

Joker 2’s Marketing Could Be Considered Responsible For Its Reception

The Marketing Has Made It Difficult To Know Exactly What Joker 2 Is Supposed To Be

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Exactly what Joker 2 was intended to be was hard to be sure of until the film was released. While the film was described as a musical by the director, Lady Gaga somewhat contradicted this. Though the first trailer provided some exciting imagery, it also did a poor job informing audiences on what to actually expect from the somewhat unnecessary sequel. Some interesting visuals, and the suggestion of musical elements, provided more confusion than engagement from the public.

The film was a blend of drama with elements of Jukebox musicals, and doesn’t seem to have worked for most audiences. With this in mind, it appears that the issues with Joker 2‘s marketing may have been two-fold, with it putting those who felt it didn’t sufficiently resemble the original film off, but still leaving others confused about the movie and thus less likely to enjoy it if they did indeed see the sequel.

The Audience Misreading Could Explain Joker 2’s Negative Reception

Joker 2 Seems To Have Disdain For Fans Of The Original Film

One of the most discussed details regarding Joker: Folie à Deux is that the sequel does not seem to have any affection for some fans of the original film. There was an enormous misreading of the first film that saw audiences engaging and celebrating Arthur Fleck’s rise to madness in its climax. Much of this came from a misunderstanding of the film, which looked to explore how mental health is often addressed poorly and unfairly in society, as the film did not advocate for violence or see Arthur as hero.

Some instead celebrated Arthur’s violent madness, and it made sense that audiences expected to see more of that in the film’s sequel. Instead, Joker 2‘s ending saw the character diminished and at his lowest. In the end, the character is no longer Joker, and it is suggested that another may wind up taking on the role of the “real” Joker later on. This majorly divisive choice, among others from the film, seemed to understand how audiences felt about the first film, and intentionally create the opposite of their expectations for the sequel.

Related Every Actor Who’s Played The Joker In Live-Action

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Much of Joker 2‘s failure may be because of how divorced the movie’s intentions and many viewer’s hopes for the story ended up being. Subversion of audience expectations can be a very tricky thing to pull off, and carries some colossal chances of backfiring. However, it seems that the failure of the new film is multifaceted, and seems emblematic of the state of DC over the past few years. Despite the failure of Joker: Folie à Deux, there is still some hope that DC Studios can pull itself up with the launch of the DC Universe soon.

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4.3/10 Joker: Folie a Deux

Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to Todd Phillips’ critically acclaimed comic book thriller Joker. Reprising his Academy Award-winning performance as the failed comedian Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix revisits the iconic DC character alongside Lady Gaga, who makes her debut as Joker’s lover Harley Quinn in this standalone continuity of the DC Universe.

Director Todd Phillips Release Date October 4, 2024 Cast Joaquin Phoenix , Lady Gaga , Brendan Gleeson , Catherine Keener , Zazie Beetz , Steve Coogan , Harry Lawtey , Leigh Gill , Jacob Lofland , Sharon Washington , Troy Fromin , Bill Smitrovich , John Lacy , Ken Leung

Upcoming DC Movie Releases

Superman (2025)

Release Date July 11, 2025
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Release Date June 26, 2026
The Batman Part II

Release Date October 2, 2026

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Category: Entertainment