Todd Philip’s Joker: Folie à Deux has added Jacob Lofland to the cast, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed. In a key supporting role, the young actor will portray an Arkham Asylum inmate who develops a relationship with Arthur Fleck, aka The Joker.
Joaquin Phoenix returns to his titular role along with Grammy and Oscar Award-winning artist Lady Gaga set to portray a version of notorious villainess Harley Quinn. The pairing was confirmed last month with a video that saw the silhouette of Joker and Gaga’s character dancing against a red and black background. Departing from its 2019 predecessor the sequel will have a musical component in it. Given Gaga’s acclaimed singing chops and Phoenix’s moves in the original movie, Folie à Deux seems to be an all round entertainer.
While no plot details are available at the moment, we have only one clue to go by the movie’s title Folie à Deux which is a medical term for an identical or similar mental disorder that affects two or more individuals, usually the members of a close family. Since Joker has no family that we know of so Gaga’s Quinn and Lofland’s new character could share the same disorder as the Clown Prince of Crime. The 2019 Joker left us on a twisted cliffhanger by showing Arthur speaking to someone at the Arkham Asylum at end of the movie leaving viewers to wonder whether the events of the movie really took place or was it all in his head. Philips, who wrote the script with the original's co-writer Scott Silver seems to build on that confusion with the new feature which is partly based in the famous asylum frequented by many of Batman’s villains in the comics.
The movie has also recently cast Get Out star Catherine Keener and Brendan Gleeson in undisclosed roles. Also, Emmy-nominated actor Zazie Beetz will be reportedly returning as her character Sophie Dumond from the original movie. Sophie is a single mother struggling to make a life in the city, living next door to Arthur Fleck, and has the unfortunate luck of being the subject of her neighbor’s romantic delusions.
Lofland made his debut opposite Matthew McConaughey and Tye Sheridan in the 2013 indie hit, Mud by director Jeff Nichols. He also played the supporting character of Aris in the Maze Runner franchise, along with credits like Pierce Brosnan’s Western series, The Son, which ran for two seasons on AMC, among others.
Joker: Folie à Deux will start production in November with shoots in Los Angeles and New York. Warner Bros Discovery has set the release date for October 4, 2024. Meanwhile, learn more about the feature below: