#I mean if we wanna real talk TDK is a technichal spiritual sequel/prequel

[daincrediblegg]

What do you want to see in a joker sequel? Do you want a sequel? With Joaquin Pheonix

This is... an interesting question, nonnie. And I’m so sorry about the fucking thesis that I’m about to unleash, but hey, I’m an industry hopeful, so I think about this kinda thing a lot.

I mean. Here’s the thing, Joker is in a weird space because I think I could go the rest of my life without a follow-up to what has become my favorite movie of all time and be happy about it. It’s so rare in today’s industry to see such an incredibly well executed, self-contained narrative. ESPECIALLY a pop culture property. The likelihood that it would fall to the usual sequel pitfalls seems incredibly likely (studio pressure and time constraint being some), and to ruin a really good story for that just doesn’t seem worth it to me. I like Joker as the one comic book movie that stood on its own two feet. That didn’t try and force a moral or put its main character into a box, but rather told Arthurs story and allowed you to fill in the blanks about who his character is and what he means. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: That is worth more to me than a whole decade of Marvel films (I’m not knocking them, but in terms of narrative quality, all the avengers combined will never hold a candle to this single film about one fucking dude).

... but also, I’m never one to say never. Where there’s an idea, there’s a solid 50/50 chance of executing it well or poorly, and that outcome depends entirely on where you focus your efforts in building the narrative off of what you’ve already done. Todd I think knows that as I’m pretty sure he said in an interview that it would have to embolden the themes of the first. Problem is that I don’t think he may know what that means

But I do, because I’m a fucking madman who has a whole notebook full of this shit. So with all that in mind, I have a few critera that I can think of off the top of my head thatTodd and the crew would need to focus on in order to make any sequel to Joker really worth it.

The narrative superposition that is maintained throughout the film that allows for narrow, but free interpretation of the characters within (this kind of stuff that allows you to come to your own conclusions about whether everything that happens in the movie is stuff that the joker made up while in the hospital or really happened, whether he really is thomas wayne’s illigitimate son or not, etc.). It’s positively the film’s best quality and following this up in a way that wouldn’t ruin the air of mystery of the first would be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. But I believe that if Todd stuck to his guns, didn’t reveal any answers to the original questions we’re left with in the first movie, and makes up NEW questions surrounding Arthur’s charater (and perhaps any other new characters that are necessary for the longevity of this depiction of the batman universe), then it can maintain some of the enigmatic, cinematically roarschach-y kinda quality that the first one had and make the sequel worthy of the name.

I think one of the greatest charms of this film is how heavily reminiscent of films like Taxi Driver and Network and other late 70’s/early 80’s indie flicks it was. But I think it doesn’t necessarily have to stick with those specific inspirations. I’d like to see it go in a different direction (my personal favorite and one that’s inspired a long fanfic of my own being early legal films with an emphasis on moral ambiguity and “the impossible court case” like To Kill A Mockingbird and Inherit the Wind). So another sort of tasteful repurposing of themes and aesthetics from classic films wouldn’t be too out of line, and it would be interesting to see what kind of personality this version of Gotham takes on because of it.

The music. It needs to follow in that period-appropriate tradition that gives a good feel for the person and the place. Hildur would obviously need to come back for the score (I cannot see a complete sequel without her, todd, lawrence sher and Joaquin honestly), but all the little music on the side would need to count just as much. I’ve got my own ideas to this end (in a playlist that I hope I’ll publish eventually), but the feel would have to feel classic but evolved from the previous soundtrack.

This is probably gonna get me a lot of hate, but here it goes: I don’t think Arthur Fleck should be the main character. Why? Well, it all boils down to that air of mystery again. The matter of fact is- this ain’t your granddaddy’s joker, running around like a mob boss and wreaking havoc in gotham for a thrill. This guy is down to earth with deeply rooted emotional motive and method behind the things he did. In order to appreciate his character even more, I would like to look at him from the periphery of another character. To know the depth of his actions not at an emotional distance, but rather at a physical distance. I think someone like perhaps The Riddler would be a good jumping off point for this kind of thing, or perhaps some other classic batman villains renewed in this gritty 80’s indie Gotham. Of course, Joaquin would have to reprise, but with someone else observing his actions he might have enough range to find some new avenues to take with the character. (And honestly, nonnie? I don’t think this one really hardcore falls into absolute sequel critera like the other two. This is only really ONE avenue that a sequel could take. But I can’t come up with all of them in one post.)