It’s one of the most anticipated films released in 2024, and now that the trailer has dropped, Joker 2‘s trailer song gives us a snapshot of what to expect from Joker: Folie à Deux, when Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) meets Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). It’s scheduled for release on October 4, 2024.
It’s the follow-up to Joker, which followed Fleck, a party clown living in Gotham City during the early 1980s. Fleck’s life is marked by poverty, societal neglect, and a failing of the healthcare system when it comes to support for those experiencing mental illness, all of which gradually push him toward a descent into madness.
As Arthur experiences a series of rejections and humiliations, he begins to embrace his alter ego, the Joker, as a symbol of chaos and rebellion against the society that has discarded him. As he becomes more entrenched in his delusions and violent impulses, Arthur sparks a city-wide movement of protest and anarchy.
Throughout the film, Arthur’s relationship with his mother, his encounters with the wealthy Wayne family, and his interactions with his social worker provide context for his unraveling psyche. Eventually, Arthur fully embraces his identity as the Joker, culminating in a violent confrontation with his perceived enemies and the emergence of Batman as his foil.
While not much is known about its sequel, we do know that Harley Quinn, aka Dr. Harleen Quinzel, plays a vital role. In the comics, her character started as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum only to fall in love with her patient and become his criminal partner. The Joker 2 trailer song provides some insight into what she gives Fleck that he’s been so desperate for.
What’s the Joker 2 trailer song?
The Joker 2 trailer song is “What The World Needs Now Is Love” written in 1965 and first recorded by pop-rock artist Jackie DeShannon. Apt for the themes we can expect from the film, the song promotes the idea of unity among people and emphasizes the need for solidarity and cooperation to address the challenges facing humanity. It also touches upon social issues and the need for greater understanding and acceptance.
It’s a nice reference to Fleck’s emotional speech on Live With Murray Franklin when he expressed his desire to be loved in a society that has repeatedly been unkind to him. “Everybody is awful these days,” he says. “It’s enough to make anyone crazy.” When he talked about the men he killed on the subway, the audience boos. “If it was me dying on the sidewalk, you’d walk right over me. … Everybody just yells and screams at each other. Nobody’s civil anymore! Nobody thinks about what it’s like to be the other guy.”
He continues: “How about another joke, Murray? When you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? You get what you f—king deserve,” before pulling out a gun and executing the host, played by Robert De Niro.
It starkly contrasts the music and visuals played in the trailer for the first Joker film—”Smile” by Jimmy Durante—which encourages listeners to keep smiling even when facing challenges and hardships, which is of course way easier said than done.
Is Joker 2 a musical?
It’s not strictly a musical, but director Todd Phillips told CinemaCon: “I like to say it’s a movie where music is an essential element. To me that doesn’t veer too far from the first film,” he said. “Arthur [Fleck]’s weird and aloof and all these things, but he has music in him. He has a grace to him. That informed a lot of the dancing in the first film… it didn’t feel like that big of a step here. It’s different, but I think it’ll make sense when you see it.”
Speaking about choosing Gaga for the role, Phillips said, “We cast Gaga because she’s magic. I was a producer on A Star Is Born … That was the first time I really met her and got to watch her work. As we were writing this script, Scott [Silver], who I wrote it with, kept going back to her.”
