Legendary comic book artist Todd McFarlane gives his thoughts on Todd Phillips’Joker: Folie à Deuxand suggests a way to improve the poorly received 2024 DC film.Joker: Folie à Deuxdivided audiencesdue to its musical numbers and its drastic turn on the titular character’s motivations, among other criticisms. DespiteJoker’s critical and commercial success only five years prior,Joker: Folie à Deuxflopped at the box officeand received abysmal reviews from critics and audiences alike.
Image Comics president andSpawncreator Todd McFarlane, lauded for his work onBatman: Year TwoandSpider-Man, shares withScreen Ranthis thoughts onJoker: Folie à Deux. The artist acknowledges the criticismsJoker: Folie à Deuxhas received and argues that certain parts of the film could be rearranged to create a more streamlined movie.McFarlane believes"there’s a hybrid"hiding insideJoker: Folie à Deuxthat could be recovered with enough changes and playfully offers to edit the film himself.Read McFarlane’s full comments below:
Screen Rant: Have you seenJoker 2yet? What were your thoughts on it? I know that a lot of people were divided on it, to say the least.
Todd McFarlane:Yeah, I thought it was interesting. I spend time with Scott Silver, one of the guys who wrote it. I was out lunch with him, and he’s like, “Have you seen it?” I was like, “No, but I should.” So, my wife and I went and saw it. I liked it more than she did.
I can understand some of the criticism as I watched it, but just from filmmaking and acting and whatever else, there were parts of it that I was just going, “Wow, wow, wow.” Interestingly, I got to the point where I go, “Oh, I see.” And with my ego - I’m going to put my ego out there – I go, “Give me all the film, put me in a room for three days, and let me edit it.” I think there’s a hybrid in there that would work for what it was.
Again, I’m being completely biased and egotistic here of what it was that I thought it was going to be in my head, but when I went in there with the insanity of the music, I think there’s a way to crazy it up more. But that’s just me. Some people saw it and they weren’t fans of it, and other people loved it. I think it elicits an opinion no matter who sees it.
What Todd McFarlane’s Joker 2 Review Mean
Joker: Folie à Deux Required Several Tweaks In The Writing And Editing Stages
Part of the reason whyJoker: Folie à Deuxwas so divisive is because it pulled in various different directions.Joker: Folie à Deuxcontinues Arthur Fleck’s story after his triumphant transformation into the Joker, yet it barely features Arthur’s Joker persona and has him abandon it out of regret.Joker: Folie à Deuxalso introduces Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, but she loses relevance in the plot toward the end.Joker: Folie à Deux’s musical numbersdiscouraged audiences that weren’t keen on musicals, but they didn’t stand out either.
Surprising Joker Stat Reveals A Huge Missed Opportunity For DC Movies
Arthur Fleck’s return in Joker: Folie à Deux underlines a recurring DC movie problem that only Jared Leto had previously defied in the DCEU.
Although some aspects ofJoker: Folie à Deuxwould still have been controversial, theJokersequel could have packed a bigger punch with a more streamlined script and a few extra rounds of editing. When it comes to filmmaking, even the most inspired movie concepts require many tweaks across every stage, from early development to post-production. More time in these stages could have cleaned upJoker: Folie à Deuxand left the most fitting ideas on the cutting room floor.
Our Take On Todd McFarlane’s Joker 2 Review
Todd Phillips' Creative Vision ForJoker: Folie à DeuxMight Have Needed To Be Reined Back A Little
As suggested byJoker: Folie à Deux’s $200-million budgetand many clashing elements, Todd Phillips probably got plenty of creative freedom to follow his vision. While valid, Phillips' vision forJoker: Folie à Deuxproved controversial, and the film didn’t meet expectations.Joker: Folie à Deux’s poor performance shows why big-budget blockbusters need a healthy balance between the director’s creative vision and some restraint from the studios, reflected in fulfilled audience expectations and fresh spins on the genre.
