Joker: Folie à Deux is set in the same universe as Batman, technically. It takes place in Gotham City, and obviously the Joker is one of Batman's most famous enemies. But Batman himself doesn't really appear in these Joker movies, save a young Bruce Wayne turning up in the first film. Also, at the end of Folie à Deux, Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker, is stabbed to death in prison by a man identified in the credits only as "Young Inmate," played by Connor Storrie. So obviously Joaquin Phoenix isn't going to be fighting Batman anytime soon.
One explaination is that these Joker movies borrow things from the Batman mythos but don't actually take place in that same universe. Maybe this is a world where the Joker rises and falls without ever actually encountering the Caped Crusader. But there might be a way for the movies to have their cake and eat it, too.
After the Young Inmate stabs Arthur, he uses that same knife to carve a Glasgow smile into his face, slicing at the edges of his mouth in a way that gives the impression of a permanent grin. You might remember that Heath Ledger's Joker had a Glasgow smile in 2008's The Dark Knight, although we never find out how he got it.
I'm not suggesting that the Young Inmate turns into the Joker we remember from The Dark Knight, although if that makes sense in your head, please go with it. But I do think that the Joker who Bruce Wayne fights years down the line could be someone inspired by Arthur Fleck, rather than Arthur himself. The Young Inmate may have killed Arthur, seeing him as having given up on his Joker persona. But that means the persona itself is up for grabs! We know that Arthur has lots of fans out there. Maybe the Young Inmate is a fan passionate enough to take the persona to the next level.
Todd Phillips, the director of both Joker movies, basically confirmed that the real Joker is inspired by Arthur Fleck during an interview with IGN:
"One of the things that people never understood about the first movie was, “I don't get it. He visits Bruce Wayne and he's 30 years older than Bruce Wayne. What kind of geriatric Joker is going to fight in the future?” I don't know if you've ever saw the script of the first movie. The first film is called Joker. It's not called The Joker, it's called Joker. And the first film under the script always said "An origin story." Never said THE origin story. It was this idea that maybe this isn't THE Joker. Maybe this is the inspiration for the Joker. So, in essence at the end of this movie, the thing you're being left with is “Wait, what is that thing happening behind him? Is that the guy?”Todd Phillips
The big thing with Arthur, Joaquin's version of Joker, our version of Joker, he's not a criminal mastermind. It's one of the things we've always said about him, even in the first movie. And if we never made a sequel, it was just like, think what you want about what this guy turns into, but it's never any version of the Joker that we all grew up on. You know what I mean? That's just not who Arthur is. So, it's kind of this idea of when somebody becomes an icon, and we put things on that person as a group, as a society, as a media, as whatever. We put things on that person that maybe they can't live up to."
Phillips has said he has no plans to make anything else in this universe. Then again, he said that after he made the first Joker movie as well. We'll see if anything concrete ever develops. Until then, the possibilities are open.
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