Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Joker: Folie a DeuxJoker: Folie à Deuxfeatures some very interesting Easter eggs and references, connections to the firstJoker, the original DC Comics, and more. Starring Joaquin Phoenix who returns as Arthur Fleck’s Joker, this Elseworlds version of the classic Batman villain is joined in the sequel byLady Gaga’s Harley Quinn. With Fleck facing both a new romance and his day in court,Joker: Folie a Deux’svarious ties and references are quite fascinating concerning the movie’s themes and the overall message it’s trying to tell.
InJoker: Folie a Deux,it’s been two years since the ending of the firstJokermovie where Arthur Fleck killed six people (though the public only knows about five). Now, Arthur is featured preparing for his trial while also experiencing a brand-new and very real romance with “Lee”, a fellow patient at Arkham State Hospital completely infatuated with Joker.To that end, here are the biggest Easter eggs and references in the dark and twisted ride that isJoker: Folie a Deux.
23Joker’s Looney Tunes Opening
The Fantasy Of The Murray Franklin Show
Remarkably,Joker: Folie a Deuxopens with an animated sequence in the style ofLooney Tunes, one that recounts a fantasy version of the final events seen inthe ending of 2019’sJoker. In the cartoon, an animated Joker arrives in a limo to cheering crowds in front of the “Franklin Theater”. Arthur’s also seen battling with his own shadow that repeatedly steals the spotlight when the duo takes the stage in front of a live audience. There’s also a hallway with posters of classic Hollywood films and musicals includingSweet Charity,My Pal Joey, and Charlie Chaplin movies.
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Furthermore,the “Live! With Murray Franklin” sign from 2019’sJokerthat had been written in the same font fromBatman: The Animated Seriesis replaced in this fantasy with “Live! With Joker”. Later on inFolie a Deux, this sequence is confirmed as Arthur’s fabricated fantasy, telling an interviewer that he believed it was his show and that Robert De Niro’s Murray was"a bad actor".
22Colorful Umbrellas At Arkham
Matching Joker’s Suit
While transporting Arthur between buildings to a less intensive wing at Arkham, Joker is shown enjoying the rain with a top-down camera angle.During this sequence, the guards' umbrellas briefly change color, resembling the colors of Joker’s suit which he wore on the Murray Franklin Show. As such, this shows how Arthur still experiences a distorted reality inFolie a Deux.
21Lady Gaga’s Harley Debuts With A Finger Gun
Mirroring Sophie Dumond
In Arkham’s less intensive B Wing, Arthur seesLady Gaga’s “Lee"for the first time. As the guards keep moving Arthur to meet with his lawyer,Lee runs into the hall and calls out to Arthur, mimicking a gun with her fingers and shooting herself in the head. This is just likeJoker’sSophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz), Arthur’s neighbor with whom he fabricated an entire romantic relationship.
20Looney Tunes Throughout All of Joker: Folie a Deux
Specifically Pepé Le Pew
On multiple occasions inJoker: Folie a Deux,actual Looney Tunes cartoons can be seen playing on various televisions in Arkham, specifically those featuringPepé Le Pew, the skunk who’s constantly looking for love from a black cat with a white stripe he thinks is a skunk like himself. Not only does this connect to the movie’s opening animated sequence, but it also ties into Arthur and Lee’s entire relationship as well.
19Arkham State Hospital & Corrections
Located On An Island
As seen inJoker: Folie a Deux,Arkham State Hospital and Corrections is located on an island connected by a single bridge to the rest of Gotham City. This mirrors the original comics with Arkham Asylum and its location on Arkham Island.
18Joker 2 Has its Own Harvey Dent
Assistant D.A. (Before Two-Face)
Harry Lawtey playsAssistant District Attorney Harvey Dent inJoker: Folie a Deux,serving as the prosecutor during Arthur’s trial. By the movie’s end and the car bomb explosion that blows up the courtroom,Lawtey’s Dent is specifically shown with half of his face having been damaged. While it is a nice nod to the classic character from DC Comics and his transformation into Two-Face, there’s certainly not as much weight behind the disfigurement nor the character overall compared to other depictions of Dent that have been seen in the past.
17"That’s Entertainment”
The Band Wagon (1953)
Setting a fire during a movie night at Arkham, Lee and Arthur get some time together before they’re both apprehended by guards. However,the movie that plays is the 1953 musicalBand Wagon, specifically during the song “That’s Entertainment” performed by Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, and Nanette Fabray. The song is also sung by Lady Gaga herself later on in the movie during the first day of Arthur’s trial, and the opening lyrics about"The clown with his pants falling down"connects to the movie’s opening where Joker loses his pants during the animated sequence.
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16Joker & Harley Dance At “Hotel Arkham”
Mirroring The Classic Alex Ross Cover
One of the imagined musical numbers between Joker and Lee is extremely reminiscent ofthe classic comic cover by Alex Ross of Harley Quinn and Joker dancing(with Arthur similarly wearing a black tuxedo). Likewise, the two are seen dancing on a rooftop near a large neon “Hotel Arkham” sign, providing audiences with a literal sign that the musical number is part of theduo’s shared delusion as Joker and Lee, otherwise known as a “folie à deux”.
15Gene Ulfland
Wrote The Book That Joker Signs
Before one of his first interviews, Arthur is asked by one of the Arkham guards to sign his book, “The Night the Laughter Died” by Gene Ulfland. Ulfland was the producer on the Murray Franklin Show who was there the night Arthur killed Murray (played by Marc Maron).
14Wayne Tower
The Legacy of Wayne Lives On
Although Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered the night of the Joker riots, the family legacy lives on with their surviving son Bruce as well as Thomas Wayne’s company, Wayne Enterprises. To that end, Wayne Tower can be seen amid the Gotham landscape while Arkham Corrections transports Arthur to and from his trial.
