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The ending of Joker: Folie à Deux has major implications for the future of the Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga-led series, thanks to its major death.
What is it about?
Warning: Spoilers for the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux ahead
Joker: Folie à Deux picks up a couple of years after the events of the first movie. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is in Arkham Asylum as district attorney Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) is calling for the death penalty.
While passing a music therapy class, Arthur sees Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), better known as Harley Quinn. She is obsessed with Arthur, having seen the TV movie about him over 20 times.
Harleen comes from an abusive childhood like Arthur. She even claims to have grown up in the same neighborhood as Arthur. They form a connection — falling in love in the grim Arkham Asylum.
After attempting to escape during a musical number, Arthur is thrown in solitary confinement. Harleen visits him and reveals that she is being released because he is a bad influence on her. She promises to attend his hearings and wait for him until he is free.
Meeting Harleen turns Arthur's luck around. They even share an intimate moment, resulting in Harleen getting pregnant.
The courtroom drama
Throughout the hearings, Joker: Folie à Deux pulls out all the stops. Cameos from the first movie come one after the other. Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beets), Gary Puddles (Leigh Gill), and Arthur's social worker, played by Sharon Washington, all testify.
Arthur gets frustrated with his lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), and fires her on the spot. He begins representing himself, which goes as well as you would imagine.
While questioning Gary, Arthur becomes emotional. He does not realize the emotional trauma Gary has as a result of his actions. He thought he did right by him, letting him go after killing Randall in the previous movie.
Arthur goes on an emotionally charged rant at the hearing as a result. He calls out the people who have mistreated him, including the Arkham Asylum guard Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson).
Upon being returned to Arkham Asylum that night, the guards brutally beat Arthur. As he is thrown back into his cell, another inmate who supports him is killed by an enraged Sullivan.
There is no Joker
The following day, Arthur returns to court to deliver his closing argument. The movie follows Maryanne as she attempts to make the case that Joker and Arthur are two separate entities (“You are not Joker, you are Arthur Fleck,” she tells him).
However, a broken Arthur takes full responsibility for his actions in his closing argument. Harleen then leaves the courtroom in a fit as the jury finds him guilty on all accounts.
As the forewoman is reading the verdict, an explosion occurs. A car bomb explodes and allows Arthur to escape. He is picked up by two Joker supporters as they drive away.
He ends up back on the street where the first movie started. This time, instead of running away from teenagers, he is fleeing from the cops.
Eventually, he escapes and heads to the iconic stairs outside his old apartment. Harleen, who they implied was going to take her own life after the hearing, is waiting on the steps.
Arthur tries to convince her to leave together. But she is no longer interested in him since he gave up the Joker persona.
“All we had was the fantasy. And you gave that up,” she tells him before leaving.
As Maryanne earlier implied, Harleen seemingly lied about her upbringing. Her father is a doctor, and she did not burn her parents' house down. In fact, she was never arrested and checked herself in and out of the hospital herself.
Joker: Folie à Deux's death sets up puzzling future
Arthur is then taken back into custody at Arkham Asylum. He is back watching TV with the other inmates before being told he has a visitor.
As he is following the guard, another inmate fatally stabs him after telling him a joke that ends with Arthur getting what he “f**king deserves.” While Arthur bleeds out on the ground, the inmate carves a smile on his face and begins maniacally laughing.
This implies that the inmate could be the Joker in the future. It is a puzzling twist, as it was always implied that Arthur was never meant to become the Crown Prince of Crime.
But Joker: Folie à Deux feels like the conclusion of the series. Todd Phillips even said he is done after this installment. But the sequel still sets up a Joker and a Harvey Dent (his face is half-burned due to the car bomb).
So, where does the ending leave Joker: Folie à Deux? Perhaps the movie will never get a follow-up, and the series ends with a new Joker that will never square off with Batman on the big screen.
It is also unclear what happens to Harleen, though it seems unlikely she becomes Harley Quinn. The Joker movies are grounded in reality, and Arthur acknowledges that he is not the Batman villain.
Joker: Folie à Deux is in theaters.
