Joker: Folie a Deux trailer hints at what to expect and the film’s villain

Beware of anyone who subscribes to “give the people what they want”, especially if they’re psychopaths wearing clown makeup.

The second trailer for Joker: Folie a Deux has dropped, likely to coincide with the film’s selection into the Venice Film Festival, where it will premiere in September.

The new video hints at what to expect from the sequel’s story. The first trailer which was dropped earlier this year was more of an introduction to the film’s love story between Arthur Fleck/Joker and Harley Quinn.

Now we know Joker: Folie a Deux is set two years after the first film and will include a sensational televised trial into his crimes, which will inevitably go into the divisive attraction and revulsion of the character.

A voiceover tells us, “They believe Arthur Fleck to be some kind of martyr but he’s not. He’s a monster.”

The line also speaks to the off-screen discourse that engulfed the first Joker movie, which included criticisms that the chaos, nihilism and violence of the character, held up not as a villain but as an anti-hero validated the worldview of incels and toxic men.

Director and co-writer Todd Philips looks to be re-litigating the debate through the sequel.

By the way, if you turn the captions on for the trailer, that voiceover apparently belongs to Harvey Dent.

Dent, as Batman fans know, is a prosecutor who becomes the villain Two-Face. The character is played here by Harry Lawtey. Whether that transition happens in this film is unknown. Dent could be the chief bad guy here, or it could be a set-up for a later film.

The film also stars Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Steve Coogan and Catherine Keener, with Zazie Beetz reprising her role from the 2019 film. It will be a musical.

The first film grossed $US1.07 billion at the box office and was nominated for 11 Oscars, winning two including in best actor for Joaquin Phoenix.

Joker: Folie a Deux is one of the headliners of the Venice Film Festival, which announced its line-up last night. Joker won the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, in 2019.

Other films that will screen in competition at Venice include Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, starring Daniel Craig, Pablo Larraine’s biopic of opera diva Maria Callas, with Angelina Jolie in the title role, Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door, which features Tilda Swinton as a war reporter, and Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller Babygirl, which stars Nicole Kidman.

Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel will premiere his new movie, The Order, a story about white supremacist bank robbers. It stars Nicholas Hoult, Jude Law and Tye Sheridan.

Outside of the official competition, Brad Pitt and George Clooney will grace the red carpet for the premiere of their action drama Wolfs, directed by Spider-Man’s Jon Watts, while Beetlejuice will also make its debut.