Joker is one supervillain that has undergone several manifestations. But there was a time when imagining the Gotham rioter without Heath Ledger was a bigger crime in the Bat world until it rolled out the carpet for Joaquin Phoenix. With the sheer grittiness emotive of the clown prince of crime, Phoenix even delivered the biggest R-rated entry at the box office with Todd Phillips’ Joker. However, with Joker: Folie à Deux, fate was barely aligned at the box office, but what no one saw coming was fans gathering to defend that very Joker after Warner Bros. tried pulling the blame game, or so they thought.

Joker: Folie à Deux has been the sequel that kept fans on their toes, but little did they know the box office nosedive would become larger than their anticipation. While reviews have been brutal, a report from early October via The Hollywood Reporter tried to dissect the reasons for such a massive slowdown with insights from Warner Bros. insiders. Some really believed it was a “collective failure”, refraining from blaming anyone internally. However, when asked who the intended audience was for the movie, an insider noted, “For Joaquin”. 

Word on the street is that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix were really on the fence about doing a sequel and rumor has it they even toyed with the idea of turning it into a Broadway show. It is said that Phoenix supposedly dreamt up the idea for the sequel and then he and Phillips went all in. Sure, some insiders were side-eyeing the level of freedom Phillips had with this flick, but the prior Phoenix remark had fans piecing it all together.

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Although the insights were meant to not point fingers at any specific team involved in the film, fans saw it differently and felt like Phoenix was getting thrown under the bus.

Joker: Folie à Deux has been a critical flop, and there is no way to sugarcoat its reception in the comic community. However, if one were to ask his fans where the fatal flaw lies, they believe it is definitely not with the lead. As industry insiders picked apart the reasons for the decline, fans noticed the blame shifting toward Joaquin Phoenix. However, they were quick to fire back, armed with an inventory of truths.

Some believed Phoenix was being blamed unfairly, adding even the best of actors cannot make a film worthwhile if the story or writing is not up to the mark.

Others were pretty harsh on the studio, convinced they were attempting to twist the narrative. Fans even pointed to the studio’s past flops to strengthen their argument. However, what many might have overlooked was that most of them aimed to share the blame collectively, rather than letting the Oscar winner take the fall alone.

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What do you think of fans defending Joaquin Phoenix after Warner Bros. comments on Joker: Folie à Deux ? Let us know in the comments below!