‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ Ending Explained: Breaking Down That Explosive Plot Twist
Joker: Folie à Deux has shocked and divided fans over its layered plot twists — and that explosive ending.
The highly anticipated sequel to 2019’s Joker officially hit theaters on Friday, October 4, with Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as Arthur Fleck a.k.a The Joker. This time, however, he’s joined by his partner in (literal) crime Lee Quinzel, played by Lady Gaga.
Still stuck inside Arkham State Mental Hospital and standing trial for five murders two years after the first film, Joker: Folie à Deux catches back up with Arthur as he meets fellow patient Lee. Together, the maniacal duo set out to find true love, drama — and their own musical fantasia — as they embrace chaos and anarchy in Gotham City.
"You know what's different?" Arthur asks at one point in the film, "I'm not alone anymore."
Everything to Know About the Upcoming ‘Joker’ Sequel, ‘Folie a Deux’: Cast, Release Date and More
The first Joker earned Phoenix a Best Actor Academy Award and brought in upwards of $1 billion at the box office. Director Todd Phillips told Variety in August that while crafting the sequel, he knew he wanted to go bigger — and more musical — if he was going to commit to expanding the franchise.
“Why do something if it doesn’t scare the s— out of you?” Phillips asked the outlet. “I’m addicted to risk. I mean, it keeps you up at night. It makes your hair fall out. But it’s the sweat that keeps you going.”
While Joker 2 certainly takes big swings, those risks have left fans divided — and wondering where things could go from here. Keep scrolling for a breakdown of the film’s biggest plot twists:
Warning: Spoilers ahead of the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux. Seriously, this is a point of no return.
That Explosive Moment
While the first half of Joker 2 takes place in Arkham State Mental Hospital, the film moves to a courtroom drama for its final hour. After Arthur (now off his medication) fires his attorney and decides to represent himself — in full-blown Joker makeup and with a southern accent at points, just for kicks — the jury begins to read their verdict.
Things are disrupted, however, when a car bomb goes off outside the courtroom, nearly killing everyone inside and allowing Arthur to briefly escape as he is carried off with a bunch of terrorist Jokers. He tracks down Harley a.k.a Lee who, after previously declaring her devotion to Arthur, breaks up with him — we’ll get to more into that later — and he is quickly arrested and sent back to jail.
Two Face, or Not?
A young Harvey Dent does appear in the movie as the Assistant District Attorney for Gotham City and is played by Harvey Lawtey, seemingly hinting at a preview to the iconic DC villain he will eventually become.
When Lawtey was cast in the film, fans speculated it would be his Two Face origin story, which includes him getting half of his face irrefutably mangled. And while he is in the courtroom when the car bomb goes off and the film does show him with some type of injury on one side of his face, there’s never a true focus on the character. Nor is there a follow up from him at a later time.
So, did he turn into Two Face? Pretty unclear, actually.
Surprise! Joker Isn’t Joker, After All
Back to Harley and Arthur’s breakup. Harley calls it quits after she witnesses Arthur take responsibility for six murders in the courtroom and accept his punishment, realizing that Joker isn’t actually his personality, but a performance he puts on for other people. She believes his confession was a betrayal of both who he is and their romance, leaving him all alone to be promptly dragged back to jail.
If Arthur wasn’t already having a bad enough day, it gets worse. Back in prison and newly single, he is fatally stabbed. A guard tells Arthur he has a visitor and leads him to a hallway where his attacker, who is a young inmate, tells him a "killing joke" and then stabs him in the stomach multiple times.
But wait, it's even more meta. As Arthur is left to bleed out, dying, the murderer takes a knife and cuts himself a new smile — much like the one that Heath Ledger is seen sporting in The Dark Knight. This could suggest that the mysterious character is the new Joker — or a younger version of Ledger’s Joker — and the person who will truly embody everything the Joker should be.
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