Folie à Deux a musical?

Key Takeaways

• Director Todd Phillips confirms Joker: Folie à Deux isn’t a true musical, but music is essential to the film.
• Lady Gaga’s casting was based on her magic, not an indication of a shift to a musical.
• The film may feature some musical numbers in dream sequences, with 15 cover songs and original tracks.

Even from the title, Joker: Folie à Deux appears very different from the 2019 original. I’m excited to see Joaquin Phoenix return to his Oscar-winning role but was taken aback a bit when I learned that Lady Gaga would be joining the cast as Harleen Quinzel, also known as Harly Quinn. Then, we got the official trailer and, while it began normal enough, we do see clips of Joker singing, playing music, and performing dance numbers that heavily imply it could be a musical. On the other hand, the first film also featured plenty of dancing without treading into musical territory.

While there are plenty of hints that point to Joker: Folie à Deux being a musical, there’s still a lot of uncertainty among fans. People who loved the first film may be hesitant to see the sequel if it will be a drastic departure from the first. I’m going to dive deep into the mind of Joker to see whether or not this movie will be a true musical and what songs will be featured in it.

We haven’t seen Joker: Folie à Deux yet, but do have official sources to go to for the answer.

Is Joker: Folie à Deux a musical or not?

The director gives us the best answer

I like to say it’s a film where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn’t veer too far from the first film.

While we can’t say from experience whether or not Joker: Folie à Deux is a musical just yet, we can turn to the person who knows the film best: director Todd Phillips. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly during CinemaCon in which he was asked about the film being a musical, Phillips stated: “We never really talked about it like that, but I like to say it’s a film where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn’t veer too far from the first film. Arthur’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.”

For those who suspected the casting of musical star Lady Gaga indicated a shift toward a musical, Phillips also commented on the casting choice: “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.” Gaga herself agrees with the sequel not being a true musical, saying, “The music is used to give the characters a way to express what they need to say [when] dialogue is not enough.”

This doesn’t mean there won’t be a few musical numbers in the film where characters are singing and dancing, most likely in a dream or delusion given the circumstances of this film and its characters, but it won’t be structured around going from one musical number to the next. In short, it seems there could be some musical numbers in this movie, and music itself will play a big part, but it will be something unique and not a musical as we know it.

What songs will be included in Joker: Folie à Deux?

We know there will be covers, but not which ones

In terms of what songs will be included, so far, I only know that it will feature at least 15 cover songs, plus an unknown number of original tracks, but none of these songs have been confirmed yet. All we know is that they’re said to feature plenty of well-known songs. A few songs teased in the trailers include Easter Parade, A Couple of Swells, Cheek to Cheek, and Get Happy.

Just because those songs will be covers doesn’t mean they will all necessarily be sung by the cast in a musical number, although a few of them could be for select musical numbers.

Joker: Folie à Deux dances into theaters on October 4, 2024.