Joaquin Phoenix responded to the rumors about a potential Joker sequel film. The 2019 solo film followed the origin of the Joker as he descended into madness and became the clown prince of crime that many Batman fans are familiar with.
Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Joker followed right after Jared Leto's take on the character in Suicide Squad, which wasn't received too well. The Suicide Squad movie from David Ayer suffered due to the studio's intervention in his creative process. On other hand, Phoenix earned praise for portraying a complex version of Joker that become empathetic to some groups of fans.
During an interview with The Playlist, Phoenix was asked about returning to the Joker role. In response, Phoenix said, "I mean, I dunno. From when we were shooting, we started to - you know, uhh, this is an interesting guy. There are some things we could do with this guy and could [explore] further. But as to whether we actually will? I don’t know." Keep in mind this isn't a confirmation nor is it a denial of him returning. If one didn't know better, it sounds like the actor doesn't know much more than the fans do.
Heath Ledger is often considered the best Joker there will ever be, so it was good to see that fans still had room left in their hearts to show appreciation of Phoenix's portrayal. His Joker was both critically and commercially praised by fans as well as critics. The film was able to hold its own weight by focusing on the villainous and tragic character without relying or leaning on Bruce Wayne/Batman in order to make the film compelling.
Joker also did a good job at setting itself apart from the existing Batman stories in the DC Universe. Despite not relying on other DC characters, the film was received so well and set up the room for a potential sequel. However, Joker made a point to focus on tying everything up with the ending, so there are fans who don't want to see a sequel and would rather leave the film as is.
Right now fans are asking for a part two, but for many DC fans, the Joker is becoming redundant. There are many other Batman villains that have yet to be utilized in a live-action film and others who haven't seen a perfect or comic-accurate portrayal. Mr. Freeze is a great example of a character who deserves another shot at a live-action portrayal. The point is, there are other stories and characters to be told besides the Joker.
Joker is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: The Playlist