The Joker sequel, Folie à Deux, has added Brendan Gleeson to the cast which already includes Joaquin Phoenix as Gotham’s clown prince of crime and Lady Gaga as his partner, Harley Quinn, as per Deadline. For now, Gleeson’s role in the movie remains unknown.

Todd Phillips helms the Warner Bros. and DC Films project, which is a sequel to the Oscar-winning 2019 movie based on the DC Comics villain. Phillips co-wrote the new script with Scott Silver, and the title is a reference to a medical term for a similar or identical mental disorder, affecting two or more individuals – usually members of a family. 

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When Joker was first being made, there wasn’t any assurance it’d succeed. While iterations of the character, played by Jack Nicholson and more recently Heath Ledger, gained critical acclaim and appreciation, the DCEU also experienced flops when Jared Leto stepped up to play the part. Thus, the plan to have a mix of Taxi Driver and King of Comedy in a decaying Gotham in the 1970s was a risky venture, but audiences and critics lapped it up. 

Joker went on to have an immensely successful theatrical run despite the R-rating and won Phoenix an Oscar for Best Actor and Hildur Gudnadottir bagged an Academy Award for Best Score. 

Gleeson will next be seen in Martin McDonagh’s Banshees of Inisherin, where he’ll appear alongside Colin Farrell, who’s already made his DC debut as Penguin in Robert Pattinson’s Batman. Farrell’s Penguin has also gotten its own spinoff for now. 

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Gleeson’s upcoming movie premieres at the Venice International Film Festival before the North American theatrical release in Toronto. He last appeared alongside Farrell in McDonagh’s 2008 breakout movie, In Bruges. 

Joker: Folie à Deux is set to release on October 4, 2024, and is supposed to be a musical on the iconic DC villain.