Joker 2 trailer: Joaquin Phoenix & Lady Gaga star as criminal clowns in musical DC sequel

Joker 2: Folie à Deux has dropped its first trailer ahead of its highly-anticipated release this October.

The upcoming Batman spin-off stars Joaquin Phoenix as the titular supervillain, aka Arthur Fleck, reprising his role as the iconic DC Comics character from the original 2019 film.

Joining him in the sequel is Lady Gaga as Arthur’s psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel, who becomes Joker’s girlfriend and partner-in-crime Harley Quinn.

Returning from the original is director Todd Phillips, who directed the first film to the first R-rated film to earn over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

The new trailer is set to set to a cover of What The World Needs Is Love, hinting at the musical aspect of the forthcoming sequel.

Lady Gaga is rumoured to be providing vocals for an original song and several covers, reportedly featuring 15 numbers overall.

However, director Todd was reluctant to officially label the sequel a “musical”.

“It’s funny, we’ve never really talked about it like that,” he said at CinemaCon.

“It’s a movie where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn’t veer too far from the first film.”

Folie à Deux is said to explore the inmates of Arkham Asylum, the psychiatric hospital where most of Batman’s rogues gallery reside when they’re not terrorising the Dark Knight.

Rounding out the supporting cast will be Zazie Beets, returning from the first film, as well as Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, Harry Lawtey and more.

Cinematographer Lawrence Sher teased the film is “a risky move” when speaking to Definition magazine and added the supervillain flick could be “surprising for people”.

Lead actor Joaquin, who won an Oscar for the first film, said of the sequel in Rolling Stone: “I can’t stop thinking about it…

“If there’s something else we can do with Joker that might be interesting.

He added there were “endless possibilities of where we can go with the character.”

Joker: Folie à Deux will be released in cinemas on October 4.