The Joker’s true identity was revealed in the ‘brutal ending’ of Folie à Deux, and it’s not what you think.
Identity confusion is the theme throughout the entire film, as the title suggests, but the ending of the second installment may surprise some fans.
Following director Todd Phillips’ 2019 psychological thriller, Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role as clown Arthur Fleck, who has fallen into mental illness.
Folie à Deux begins with Arthur behind bars at Arkham Asylum, waiting to see if he will be judged sane enough to stand trial for the murders he committed two years earlier.
Meanwhile, he enjoys his celebrity status with his fellow prisoners and even the guards, one of whom, a sadistic Irishman played by Brendan Gleeson, gives him cigarettes in exchange for pranks.
The Joker’s true identity was revealed in the ‘brutal ending’ of Folie à Deux, and he’s not who you think
Identity confusion is the theme throughout the entire film, as the title suggests, but the ending of the second installment may surprise some fans.
Lady Gaga plays Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel, a fellow inmate who fans believe is on her way to becoming the Joker’s girlfriend, Harley Quinn.
The pair hit it off in a music therapy class and soon fall in love with each other, but Lee makes it clear that he loves the dangerously charismatic Joker, the “clown prince of crime,” not the darkly introspective Arthur.
Finally, after Arthur’s notable television appearance with a cocky interviewer played by Steve Coogan, it’s time for the trial, with all of Gotham gripped by the issue of multiple personality disorder.
His lawyer (Catherine Keener) struggles to prove that Joke is accused of five murders, and not Arthur. Lee just as urgently wants him to identify as his demonic alter ego.
In the final scenes, Arthur renounces his Joker alter ego and is found guilty of first-degree murder.
While he is being sentenced, a car bomb detonates outside the courthouse, and two people help Arthur escape, but he is then caught by the police and taken back to Arkham.
At the Asylum, a young patient begins to tell a joke to Arthur, before stabbing him in the stomach and, as he bleeds to death, a smile appears on his own face.
It raises questions about the Joker’s true identity, as it appears he never became the famous villain, but was simply the person who inspired the man who eventually became him.
Folie à Deux begins with Arthur behind bars at Arkham Asylum, waiting to see if he will be judged sane enough to stand trial for the murders he committed two years earlier.
However, in the final scenes a young patient begins to tell a joke to Arthur, before stabbing him in the stomach and, as he bleeds to death, a smile appears on his own face.
It raises questions about the Joker’s identity, as it appears he never became the villain, but was simply the person who inspired the man who became him.
Principal Todd said Entertainment Weekly: ‘When those guards kill that child in the (hospital), he realizes that putting on makeup, putting on this thing, doesn’t change anything.
‘In a way, he has accepted the fact that he has always been Arthur Fleck; It’s never been this thing that’s been imposed on him, this idea that the people of Gotham have imposed on him, that he represents.
“He is an involuntary icon. They put this on him and he no longer wants to live like a fake, he wants to be who he is.’
The film serves as a follow-up to Phoenix’s 2019 blockbuster, which was simply titled Joker.
The musical directed by Todd Phillips premiered in theaters on October 4, following its international premiere on October 2.