Willem Dafoe Has The Best Idea For Joker 2 With Joaquin Phoenix
The interviewer had the courage to ask Willem Dafoe about his long-standing pairing with the Joker, and surprisingly enough, he came up with an incredible idea for Joker 2.
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Fans of Willem Dafoe have long pegged the actor as a likely candidate to play The Joker. There have been countless fan art submissions that truly make Dafoe look to be the perfect kind of sinister actor that could take up that mantle, especially how he has played villains in the past. He recently sat down with GQ, where he gave a candid interview about life and his reemergence to the superhero genre as the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The interviewer had the courage to ask Dafoe about his long-standing pairing with the Joker, and surprisingly enough, he came up with an incredible idea for Joker 2.
According to Willem Dafoe, he has fantasized about playing a “Joker imposter”. Having both amazing actors in the same film would be incredible. Here’s what Dafoe said in full:
There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter. So it would be possible to have not dueling Jokers but someone that says to be the Joker that isn’t the Joker. And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did. I fantasized about that. But other than that I am not talking to anybody [about it], you’re the first one.
Willem Dafoe
I will be the first to admit that is how I read Arthur Fleck in the Joker film. I felt that he may have been an impostor that saw what the real Joker was doing and wanted to reflect that. However, to have Willem Dafoe explain that more articulately and want to portray a “fake” version of the character in Joker 2 would be amazing.
Willem Dafoe is easily one of the best actors of our generation and the generation before. From Platoon to Spider-Man and The Boondock Saints, he truly is one of the most well-rounded actors of all time. It would be incredible to have Dafoe portray another Joker alongside Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix won Best Actor for his performance in Joker and there have been plenty of rumors for another Todd Philips entry into the depraved mind of Arthur Fleck. Adding a copycat Joker, especially Dafoe, would catapult that film back into the awards sector. The initial Joker film added Robert De Niro to the cast, so adding another high-profile actor to appear alongside Phoenix would be the proper way to go.
There are currently no deadset plans for Joker 2 to happen as of right now, but it appears as if Todd Philips and Joaquin Phoenix are both interested in making the film. It would also be a great idea for Philips to sit down with Willem Dafoe and listen to his pitch, especially if the actor is serious about portraying another version of Joker alongside Phoenix. The idea that both of them would be playing the same character sounds to be the type of film that could garner more Best Picture nominations in the Oscars. Joker was an isolated story that was an off-shoot from the already established DC Extended Universe and Batman world. This is similar to what audiences will soon see from Robert Pattinson in The Batman, which is set to come out on March 4, 2022. Hopefully this will lead to more DC movies, particularly a Joker 2.
