Though it is still too soon to predict how Joker: Folie à Deux will perform with critics and audiences, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker return could create Oscars history. Given how successful the first Joker (2017) was at the box office – Joker is the highest-grossing R-Rated movie of all time – a sequel announcement would never be too surprising. Still, Joker 2 happening with Phoenix reprising his Academy Award-winning role was big news.
Joker played out as a very self-contained movie that did not necessarily ask for a sequel. In addition, given how little connections to the DC Comics universe Joker had, the character’s history throughout Batman’s mythos couldn't be used to predict what would be next for Phoenix’s Joker. That uncertainty only makes Joker 2 more exciting, especially with Phoenix reprising his role as the iconic Batman villain.
Joaquin Phoenix Winning An Oscar For Joker 2 Would Be An Academy First
If Joaquin Phoenix wins an Oscar for Joker: Folie à Deux, then an Oscars record will have been broken. So far, no actor has ever received two Oscars for playing the same character in two different movies. There have been two instances, though, in which two different actors playing the same character in different movies received an Oscar each. Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro’s portrayals of Vito Corleone in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, respectively, were both given an Academy Award. A similar thing happened to the Joker, whose portrayal in both The Dark Knight by Heath Ledger and Joker by Joaquin Phoenix resulted in Oscar-winning performances.
Still, when it comes to the same actor playing the same character in a sequel like Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux, winning two Academy Awards would be an Oscars first. Sequels overall do not perform well in the Academy Awards, as those are usually tied to blockbusters and franchises that, historically, never had a solid Oscars track. The Joker sequel, however, appears to be a different case. Though Joker’s box office success by itself could be enough to justify a sequel to the DC Elseworlds movie, Joaquin Phoenix is known for carefully picking his next projects. As such, if Phoenix is returning for Joker 2, then the project must be special.
Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker Return Is Already Special
Even if Joaquin Phoenix does not win an Oscar for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck, the Joker, in Folie à Deux, just the fact that the actor is returning for the sequel makes it so much more exciting. An actor who reprised an Oscar-winning performance in a sequel had only happened nine times in all of the Academy Awards' history, with Gene Hackman, Shirley Maclaine, and Tommy Lee Jones as some examples. Phoenix now joins that list with his Joker return in Folie à Deux, in which he will co-star with the Academy Award-nominee Lady Gaga.
Sequels are usually not expected to have a strong Oscars presence, especially when it comes to superhero movies or anything franchise-related. Such a trend may be beginning to change, as seen with the 2023 Oscar nominations for Top Gun: Maverick, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Avatar: The Way of Water. Joker: Folie à Deux is expected to be a very different sequel compared to the first Joker and to sequels in general, with the movie being described as a musical. Essentially, Joaquin Phoenix’s return, Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn casting, and the musical approach might lead Joker: Folie à Deux to a record-breaking award run.
