Joker 2 Trailer Teases Inspiration From a Cult-Classic Movie Musical

The first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux arrived this week, and it definitely shook up people's expectations of the DC mythos. The sequel follow in the footsteps of 2019's Joker, which grossed over $1 billion at the global box office and won multiple Academy Awards. This time around, Folie à Deux is presenting its twisted story as a musical — and the first footage shown in its trailer makes a handful of references to a critically-acclaimed movie musical. 

One of the first sequences in the Folie à Deux trailer shows Arthur Fleck / Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) being escorted through the gates of Arkham Asylum on a rainy day, as the umbrellas being held around him are shown to be brightly colored. This, combined with a very mod-looking outfit that Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) is shown wearing while playing the piano, seem to suggest that Folie à Deux is drawing inspiration from 1964's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

How Does The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Tie to Joker 2?

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a 1964 musical rom-com, which serves as the second portion of an unofficial "romantic trilogy" for director Jacques Demy alongside 1961's Lola and 1967's The Young Girls of Rochefort. The film centers around the years-spanning romance between two young adults in France, Geneviève Émery (Catherine Deneuve) and Guy Foucher (Nino Castelnuovo), as war, marriage, pregnancy, and the passage of time strain their connection. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is distinct in the movie musical landscape for being entirely sung-through like an opera, as opposed to having non-diagetic musical numbers.

So, how does this connect to Joker: Folie à Deux? For starters, director Todd Phillips introduced the film's trailer by arguing that it isn't a full-fledged musical, saying "it's a movie where music is an essential element" not unlike the first Joker, which utilized multiple needle drops to convey Arthur's inner thoughts or delusions. This outlook could certainly lend itself to an approach like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, where the musical numbers become a way to express Arthur and Harley's emotions instead of straightforward dialogue. If Joker: Folie à Deux is utilizing The Umbrellas of Cherbourg as a reference, it also provides a distinct movie musical touchstone outside of the big band musicals of the 1930s and 1940s. Plus, the sweet-but-tragic throughline of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg could mirror Folie à Deux — at least, the events that Arthur and Harley believe to be happening.

What Is Joker 2 About?

Joker: Folie à Deux will be a musical that follows the twisted romance between Arthur Fleck / Joker and Harley Quinn, with a lot of the film taking place within Arkham Asylum. Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux will also feature appearances from Zazie Beetz, Brendon Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Jacob Lofland.

What do you think of the first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux? Are you excited for the upcoming DC film? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Joker: Folie à Deux will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, October 4th.