Yep, despite the undeniable box office success and the millions upon millions of people saying otherwise, there are still people willing to say that Joker should have been left alone and that there should definitely never be a Joker 2. The obvious line that’s going to be thrown around is that no matter how much people want to deny it, sequels don’t often live up to the original movies. They’re usually inferior simply because they don’t have their own story and have to leech off of the original in order to even exist. There are plenty of sequels that have done well because they’ve either improved upon the first story or have done their own thing and remained attached to the original, but a lot of movies have simply flopped in a big way since on their own there’s just not enough substance. Joseph Kim of Medium is one of the many that might agree since one of the best things about the Joker character is, and always has been, the mystery that has surrounded him more often than not. The character has had an origin story in the comics before and has been given a great amount of detail, but it would seem that a lot of people tend to still like the idea that there’s really no clue just where the Joker came from or why he’s so utterly insane.
Joker cuts through that myth and lays bare the idea that Arthur Fleck is just another ordinary person with a lot of problems, which brings the character crashing down to earth, thereby dispelling any fantasy or notion that he has anything other than a normal human origin. Obviously Arthur is a very troubled and demented person inside, but it takes some time to really draw this out and make it plain as day for the audience. Well, it might have for anyone that didn’t see the trailers leading up to the movie. Another reason however for saying no to a sequel is that if you hadn’t noticed, DC is really fragmenting its story lines in a big way since Joker doesn’t conform to the Batman lineup any more than the movies back in the 90s did. When it comes to Batman it’s a free for all until someone like Christopher Nolan can come along and create something that people actually like, or Ben Affleck tries to step in and use his fortune as his superpower. Honestly, the Batman idea has been carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey at this point and is being doled out in various ways that is making the overall story make less and less sense as the years continue to roll by. If there’s one thing that seems to be killing DC and helping it at the same time it’s that they’re simply not keeping to any one continuity and don’t seem intent on doing so anytime soon. Marvel can continue to crank out their movies and keep people interested since they introduce different and new characters within each movie that are still a part of the overall story, and to be honest people seem to enjoy this. DC’s decision to create such different story lines is kind of disorienting in a way since one has to take a guess as to which timeline they should follow if they really want to know what’s going on. Chaim Gartenberg of The Verve has more to say on this matter.
Joker though seems to have sprung free of the Batman story line while keeping several elements and possibly setting up its own continuity, which is another reason why this sequel could be a bad idea. It’s bound to introduce an idea that will continue to fragment DC in a big way and could continue to divide the fans no matter how unified they seem. The funny thing about this, ironic as that is, rests on the idea that the insanity that the Joker represents and the madness that he brings with him, is more appealing than Batman in a big way. The Joker seems to represent freedom from the mental oppression that keeps so many people down, the loss of inhibition that keeps a lot of folks on the straight and narrow. Apart from all that though, the one reason why this movie doesn’t need to be made is that it’s not bound to be nearly as well-received as the first one. That’s the one immutable rule that rarely ever gets broken, and it’s that sequels just don’t perform as well as the originals. If you were looking for a moral or more logical reason as to why this shouldn’t be made, that was used to describe the first movie, and it stands despite the financial success. As of now however, Joker 2 does seem to be in the works as rumors suggest, and while there’s not that much information on it, some people are already excited. Huh boy.
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