Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck was mostly dealing with his loneliness in the first Joker movie, but with the sequel Joker: Folie a Deux, he’s going to be getting his long-time partner-in-crime Harley Quinn—played by Lady Gaga no less.

The movie promises to bring new takes to the Joker and Harley mythos, and this new clip from the film does hint at something different between the two in this iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime.

Joker and Harley’s New Dynamic in Folie a Deux

WB has just released a new clip from the film, and it features Harley (or rather, “Lee” for this movie) running into Arthur after a supposed trial hearing. Check this out:

“You can do anything you want. You’re Joker.”

While the trailers make it clear that the events of the first movie have inspired Lee to some level, the exchange between both of them in the clip kind of hints at how Lee is Arthur’s enabler, and that she’s the one encouraging the Joker façade that it being put in front of the people.

Credit: WB Pictures; fair use for news and promotional purposes

Joker and Harley’s Original Dynamic

In the original story of Joker and Harley meeting each other, Harley is a psychiatrist who falls in love with her patient (Joker) in Arkham Asylum. She helps him escape, and the two become accomplices. Though Harley is supportive of “Mr. J”, it’s clear that the Joker kind of just pushes her around and never really reciprocates Harley’s romantic feelings.

The evolution of the dynamic over time has led Harley to reject Joker and become her own character, and she eventually ends up with Poison Ivy in the comics.

As for Folie a Deux’s Joker and Harley though, the story changes so that Lee is also a psychiatric patient, and she falls for Joker when he does his public execution of Murray Franklin. Joker’s attitude toward Lee is also different, because he’s clearly in love with her; and it’s possible the main change for this film is that it’s Harley who will actually be pulling the strings this time, and poor Arthur is just the clown playing the part.

Early Reviews

Though Joker: Folie a Deux is aiming to release in October, the film has already gotten its premiere, and a lot of early reviews have been divisive, to say the least. Lady Gaga is said to have stolen the show for the film, but the movie is said to have underused her as a character.

Then again, critic reaction has never really been the best gauge for how well a movie performs at the box office. Venom was a critical bomb when it came out, and somehow it’s the only successful Spider-Man spinoff that Sony can’t seem to replicate the results of.

With the massive success of the first movie, there’s no doubt that people will be lining up to see the continuing criminal adventures of Arthur Fleck. Fingers crossed that they’ll eventually have him clash with Batman in a future movie. Is it too late to ask for a live-action version of his new sidekick Punchline?

Watch out for Joker: Folie a Deux when it comes to cinemas on Oct. 4.

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