What is Folie à Deux? Joker 2 title confirmed by Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix

A sequel to Todd Phillips' 2019 DC film Joker was just announced. It looks like the story of Arthur Fleck will be continuing with Joaquin Phoenix set to star in the titular role again. The film's title, Joker: Folie à Deux, has left some fans scratching their heads.

Although it is fascinating, Joker receiving a sequel doesn't seem that surprising. Todd Phillips has long talked about developing a sequel, and Joaquin Phoenix has also expressed his ideas about what he would like to see in the film. With Arthur Fleck returning, the title Folie à Deux has a lot of significant meaning to it as well.

So, let's look at what the phrase Folie à Deux means for the Joker sequel.

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Joker: Folie à Deux Announced by Todd Phillips; Exploring the meaning behind the title

Title of the film (Image via toddphillips/Instagram)

Folie à Deux is a French word that translates into 'madness for two.' This could mean many things for the plot, and how it could hint at what we might see in the film.

Folie à Deux also means two people sharing the same mental illness in close association. This usually affects family members who have a long line of mental illness history or even those who share the same issues but are together.

Now, this certainly can mean many things for where the plot might head because the original Joker did deal a lot with mental illness. So much of the original film revolved around Arthur Fleck having a Pseudobulbar effect that caused him to have uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Fleck also showcased signs of Schizophrenia, which made him interpret reality quite differently to the point where he imagined that he had a relationship with his neighbor, Sophie Dumond.

Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix on set (Image via toddphillips/Instagram)

Now, if the film's title can be taken at face value, then we can probably imagine there is another player in the sequel that might star along with Joaquin Phoenix. After the release of the 2019 film, Phoenix talked about how he would like for there to be a copycat in the sequel.

The idea of the Clown Prince of Crime inspiring someone else to take up the mantle and carry out the same crimes as him would be an interesting take. It could also lead to the Madness for Two translating for Folie à Deux and hone in with this idea.

Comic cover (Image via DC Comics)

The introduction of a second Clown Prince of Crime wouldn't be that strange of an idea. Over the last few years, DC has embraced having multiple Jokers to the point where it even had a story with three men who laughed. Titled Batman: Three Jokers, the comic focused on the Dark Knight, Jason Todd, and Barbara Gordon taking down three different versions of the supervillain responsible for causing some traumatic events in their past.

The title of Folie à Deux could also hint toward the introduction of Harley Quinn maybe. We all know how important Quinn is to the mythos, so Arthur Fleck finding a love interest and bringing her down to his level could be a scenario too.

However it may be, the film is quite a few years away from release. We can stay theorizing about what might happen in this film until then.