If a person was wondering how fickle movie fans can be, then the answer might be found in the response of DC fans to the possibility of Joker 2 coming to theaters eventually. The initial movie with Joaquin Phoenix was lauded as one of the best and even won the main actor an award as some people were clapping ecstatically and others were staring in shock at how this movie managed to climb so high. But that’s what fans are for, to embrace something so fully that they’ll defend any and every criticism launched at it, only to turn around and act confused as to why anyone would want to create a sequel. As anyone should be able to guess, this wasn’t what the studio wanted to hear when it came to announcing a sequel to Phoenix’s beloved character. Even Joaquin didn’t want to perform a sequel unless he was able to put full belief into it, which indicates that unless he can be brought back, the announcement of a sequel might dwindle, or we might see one script after another denied as delays are bound to happen if the Oscar-winner’s needs aren’t met. It sounds a bit ridiculous to plan for a sequel without being certain that people are going to like it, doesn’t it? That’s kind of amusing really since this is how Hollywood appears to do things quite often when it comes to the initial movie and sequels alike, but this time they’re being given pause for one reason or another, and all because the fans, who they choose to please and then choose to disregard at times, are already giving their two cents about the idea. The thing is, their opinion isn’t exactly wrong since the Joker has pretty much told his tale, and trying to make him into what people can already guess he’s going to be would be kind of pointless at this time.
But if there’s a twist, perhaps if Arthur Fleck isn’t the real Joker, or is the catalyst for the person that will become the actual Joker, it would be acceptable, even if it might not please everyone. The point is that not everyone is going to be pleased at all times. This is an immutable fact since even in a utopian society it’s not entirely possible to please everyone all the time, no matter who wants to offer up an argument to say different. People are going to think what they want about an idea, and in this instance, a lot of people, fans of DC no less, are already stating they don’t think this idea will work. The first movie was a stunning piece of work without any doubt since it took the story of the Joker down a familiar route using the name of Arthur Fleck, but it was still a story that a lot of people wouldn’t have expected since the realism that was injected into it was enough to make a lot of people empathize with Arthur since he had a genuine condition that forced him to laugh maniacally, which unnerved a lot of people around him. The problem was that he couldn’t help it, and he couldn’t help the fact that he was quite insane on a few levels as well. But maybe fans are starting to feel a little bit of an overload on the character, meaning that they’ve seen so many different versions of the same villain that it might be time to do something truly different by coming up with another realistic origin story for another Batman villain.
Batman does have a full list of villains, and many of them can become realistic villains with very little effort since there’s always a way to take the impossible and make it practical in a way that will make sense to those that are more into realism than the comics tend to allow. There are fans out there that are wondering what we can’t see Poison Ivy as an eco-terrorist, or perhaps Lady Shiva as a martial arts expert, since those wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to accomplish. Villains such as Clayface and Killer Croc would present a challenge since their appearance and their backstories might need a lot of tweaking and it’s likely that the fans wouldn’t really take to it that well. The thing about the Joker is that he’s typically been human but simply insane enough to challenge the Batman in a lot of different ways without having to go toe to toe with him all the time. But to find a villain that could be given a dose of realism and still be effective would be a better bet is what fans appear to be saying. A Joker sequel is going to have to be almost perfect to appease the fans.
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