Joker 2's Best Scene Proves It Should Have Been a Very Different Movie (2025)

Joker: Folie à Deux is finally in theaters and fans of the original film are disappointed with the long-awaited sequel. The Todd Phillips-directed sequel takes place one year after the original movie, as Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) awaits his murder trial. Though his lawyer wants him to plead insanity, a new woman in his life shakes things up. Another patient in Arkham Asylum, Lee Quinn (Lady Gaga), strikes up a romance with Arthur before encouraging him to embrace his Joker personality.

Critics and fans disliked Joker: Folie à Deux for multiple valid reasons, criticizing its tone and toothless commentary, especially when compared to its much better-received predecessor. Nevertheless, a few aspects of the Joker sequelprove it could have been an excellent movie with only a few changes. One particularly gripping courtroom scene in the third act contains echoes of a much different film that fans likely would have enjoyed much more than they ultimately got.

The Gary Puddles Scene Is the Best Part of Folie à Deux

Gary Puddles Takes the Stand Against Arthur Fleck in Joker 2

Much of the third act of Joker: Folie à Deux follows the trial of Arthur Fleck as he is prosecuted by Harvey Dent, Gotham City's district attorney. The trial includes plenty of back-and-forth as Dent argues that Fleck should be executed for his crimes, but Fleck's lawyers plead insanity. Eventually, Arthur fully adopts his Joker personality and fires his lawyer, choosing to represent himself instead. After this reckless choice, Joker is faced with one of the most surprising witnesses in his trial: his former coworker, Gary Puddles.

Gary testifies about the Joker's horrific actions, including the murder of their coworker Randall, which he saw first-hand. Gary's testimony is moving and heartbreaking, even visibly affecting the Joker, who begins to let his Arthur Fleck side shine through after seeing how deeply these events affected Gary, who had been the one person in his life who had treated him well. Juxtaposed with this emotional scene is the Joker front that Arthur puts up during Gary's testimony. Fully slipping into his Joker personality for the first time in the film, Arthur interrogates Gary, putting on a deep Southern drawl that nearly gets him held in contempt of court. This sequence is by far the best part of Folie à Deux, showcasing both the horrific ramifications of the events of the first film and showing a more familiar Joker, who can hardly take even his own murder trial seriously. Perhaps for the first time, Folie à Deux begins to feel like the movie it should have been, only to slip back into its other shenanigans almost immediately.

Folie à Deux Needed to Embrace the Joker—Not Arthur Fleck

Joker 2 Only Includes the REAL Joker in a Single Scene

One of the reasons that reactions to Joker: Folie à Deux have been almost unanimously negative is that it focuses far more heavily on Arthur Fleck than the Joker. The first film spent much of its runtime building up to the Joker's debut, but the sequel retreads much of the same territory. It subdues Joker in favor of Arthur until the third act, leaving Joker with even less significant moments than in the original. However, the Gary Puddles testimony scene shows what fans could have gotten from a Joker sequel as Arthur has a bit of fun as the Joker. Putting on a Southern drawl at a homicide trial and getting offended by someone failing to watch his televised murder is one of the most "Joker" things imaginable, showing just how much fun Folie à Deux could have been.

A Joker sequel should have leaned more heavily into the DC Comics character as he wreaks havoc across Gotham City. Instead, Folie à Deux chose to follow its predecessor's somber tone with an uninteresting murder trial that brings Arthur Fleck back to the forefront rather than the Joker. The Gary Puddles testimony is unfortunately the last time that audiences see the real Joker outside of a few more imaginary musical moments that don't add much to the plot. It is shortly after this moment that Arthur renounces his Joker personality and gets himself killed in the hallway of Arkham Asylum. With this, Folie à Deux stunts any potential it had of being a terrific sequel, pushing aside the Joker personality in favor of a character whose story gets less interesting as time goes on.

DC Needs to Bring the Funny Joker Back

The Depressing Joker Has Been Done to Death

Joker is an iconic movie villain who has gone through many transformations over the decades. While certain renditions of the Joker had aired much closer to the comics, everything changed with Heath Ledger's performance as the supervillain in 2008's The Dark Knight. Ledger's Joker focuses less on the humor that the character brings to the table and more on his societal criticism, making him a more serious individual than most other adaptations. The widespread acclaim that Ledger's Joker earned, which included an Academy Award, led to DC pivoting hard with the character in all future reboots. Jared Leto's Joker attempted to do something new with the character in the DCEU, but still kept the gritty realism of The Dark Knight. 2019's Joker doubled down on the character's depressing nature, delivering yet another socially conscious version of the Joker that won Joaquin Phoenix an Academy Award as well. However, after over sixteen years, audiences are done with the depressing Joker.

• Joaquin Phoenix is the fifth actor to play the Joker in live-action and the second to win an Academy Award for his portrayal of the character.

James Gunn's DCU needs to bring back the comics-accurate funny version of the Joker. While Heath Ledger's take on the character was terrific, it has never been topped and likely never will be. It is time for future DC movies to go back to the iconic version of the character who cracks jokes and plays pranks, all in a bid to introduce a bit of chaos into the world. Jack Nicholson proved that this version of the character works in live-action, so long as the film is willing to lean into the Joker's antics. Similarly, Mark Hamill's Joker is perhaps the most comics-accurate version yet and remains the most iconic adaptation of the character of all time. Audiences have always enjoyed both the funny and more serious versions of the Joker through the years, but have been inundated with the latter for over a decade.Folie à Deux proves that it's time to go back to the funny version of the Joker, whether it involves doing funny voices at his murder trial or simply cracking an actual joke from time to time.

Joker: Folie à Deux shines when it finally lets the Joker out, even if this only happens very briefly. With Joaquin Phoenix's Joker finally bowing out for good, the time has come for the classic version of the supervillain to make a comeback. Fans are ready for the funny Joker to make his long-awaited return to DC.

Joker: Folie a Deux

Drama

Crime

Musical

The Joker returns in a new chapter of madness and mayhem in "Joker: Folie à Deux," a sequel to the critically acclaimed and award-winning 2019 film. Brace yourself for a dark and twisted descent into the mind of Arthur Fleck, as he grapples with his inner demons and unleashes chaos upon Gotham City.

Director

Todd Phillips

Release Date

October 4, 2024

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix , Lady Gaga , Brendan Gleeson , Catherine Keener , Zazie Beetz , Steve Coogan , Harry Lawtey , Leigh Gill , Jacob Lofland , Sharon Washington , Troy Fromin , Bill Smitrovich , John Lacy , Ken Leung

Writers

Todd Phillips , Scott Silver , Bob Kane , Paul Dini , Bill Finger , Bruce Timm , Jerry Robinson

Runtime

138 Minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Characters By

Prequel

Producer

Production Company

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

prequel(s)

Joker

Franchise(s)

Joker

Character(s)

Arthur Fleck , Lee Quinzel , Jackie , Maryanne Stewart , Sophie Dumond , Paddy Meyers , Harvey Dent , Gary Puddles , The Jokester , Social Worker , E Ward Inmate (Troy Larkins) , Judge Herman Rothwax , Arkham Guard