Joker 3 is unlikely according to the film’s director: "I think we’ve said what we wanted to say"

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Joker 2 will likely be the final movie in Todd Phillips’ saga. In a new interview with Variety, the director shared that he thinks his time in the comic book world is over after the upcoming sequel.

"It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world," he said. Joker: Folie à Deux begins a few years after the first movie, as we meet Arthur Fleck again as a patient at Arkham, where he faces the death penalty.

Here, he falls in love with a music therapist and fellow patient called Lee (Lady Gaga’s take on Harley Quinn). The pair forge a joint connection over their shared delusions, in the musical take on the Batman story.

In the new interview with Variety, Phillips also gave some more insight into the musical details of the film. "Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue," he explained. "It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead. Phillips added: “I just don’t want people to think that it’s like In the Heights, where the lady in the bodega starts to sing and they take it out onto the street, and the police are dancing."

While hugely popular, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Joker 2 will be the final film in the saga. James Gunn and Peter Safran have taken over as DC Studios heads and will be overseeing the reboot of the DC timeline, including a new Batman film. Another DC Elseworlds project in the making is The Batman 2, which is still in the works and has a new spin-off coming out soon called The Penguin. 

For more on DC, check out all the new superhero movies on the way and all the new DC movies and shows you need to know about.

Fay Watson
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.