Joker 2 officially happening with Joaquin Phoenix – but who should play Harley Quinn?

A Joker sequel starring Joaquin Phoenix is officially in the works with a script, a new mysterious title and a major DC character potentially set to appear.

The news was confirmed by director Todd Phillips himself (via Instagram), where an image of the script was revealed with Phillips and Scott Silver collaborating just as they did on the original 2019 movie. Another image posted shows star Joaquin Phoenix reading the screenplay, seemingly confirming his return as the Clown Prince of Crime.

A working title "Joker: Folie à Deux" was announced too. When translated this literally means "shared madness", fueling speculation that the Joker's closest companion Harley Quinn will be making an appearance. If true, the big conundrum for many and Warner Bros. will be who should play the hugely popular role. 

T3 has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment. 

Most notably, Margot Robbie has played the role three times in live-action: Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad. Kaley Cuoco has then portrayed Harley Quinn for two seasons of the animated series with a third in the works, while Tara Strong has voiced the character since 2015 across various animation projects and video games, such as Injustice, Batman Arkham: City and Batman: Arkham Knight. She will reprise the role once more in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League next year.

So who should line-up alongside Joaquin Phoenix? Several names being mentioned across the web include Chloë Grace Moretz, Emma Roberts, Emma Stone, and Anya Taylor-Joy. The difficulty of whoever takes the part will be differentiating themselves from Margot Robbie, who is currently one of DC's most popular interpretations and one of the hottest in Hollywood right now. 

At the time, Phoenix was an unexpected pick, with the Academy Award winner seen as one of the best actors of our time, so it needs to be someone of the same talent. Relative newcomer Emma Mackey could be an interesting choice, with her star currently on the rise after major roles in Sex Education and Death on the Nile. Hot off the heels of Stranger Things, Maya Hawke is another who I'd be curious to see. 

If we are looking for a well-established actor that could bring something different though, Saoirse Ronan would be my pick. The Golden Globe-winning actor definitely has the capability, putting in strong performances in Ladybird, Little Women, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Mary Queen of Scots, to name a few. The latter of which was up against Margot Robbie, who I'd honestly much rather just own the live-action role but here we are.

No release date or further details were shared for Joker: Folie à Deux, Earlier this year, we previously reported on a source who confirmed that a draft of the script was near completion and that filming will begin in 2023. With today's announcement, this is looking more and more accurate.

Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy and Brett Cullen with the film available to stream across Netflix in the UK and HBO Max in the US.