Unfortunately, Joker: Folie à Deux‘s critical and commercial failure has cast a shadow on the possibility of similar DC and Marvel projects. Todd Phillips’ 2019 Joker was a bold experiment that certainly paid off. Joker reached a record-breaking $1.06 billion at the box office on a $55 million budget, received unprecedented critical acclaim, and earned the Arthur Fleck star an Academy Award for Best Actor. Due to its high quality and unique take on an iconic character, Todd Phillips’ Joker sparked conversations about the true potential in comic book adaptations.

Five years later, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix returned to the world of Joker despite the first movie’s inherently standalone nature and open ending. Joker: Folie à Deux broke box office records, but they were all on the opposite side of the spectrum. The Joker sequel grossed $206 million on a$200 million budget, breaking records such asthe worst second-weekend decline for a comic book movie, at 81% between its first and second weekend in theaters. Joker: Folie à Deux also claimed a spot among the worst-reviewed comic book movies of all time, with a 31% audience and critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Joker 2 Sabotaged Joker’s Excellent Demonstration Of The Potential Of Supervillain Focused Movies

Joker: Folie A Deux Undid The Work Done By Todd Phillips’ First Movie

Todd Phillips’ Joker proved that comic book characters could star in serious, self-contained, standalone movies that dive deep into their protagonists’ psyche without the need to follow an established format or rely on action and visual effects to capture the audience’s attention. After Joker‘s mᴀssive success, the concept of director-driven solo movies based on DC villains — or any individual comic book characters — became a popular idea. The Joker’s popularity made him the best choice for a solo film, but many other Batman antagonists also have decades’ worth of stories that could follow in the footsteps of Todd Phillips’ Joker.

Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux proposed even bolder ideas than its predecessor, but they failed to capture audiences and critics. Joker: Folie à Deux‘s subversion of the first movie’s plot and themes, musical numbers, limited Joker screentime, and downer ending all contributed to the sequel’s poor performance. Joker: Folie à Deux‘s controversial characteristics not only left a bad taste in the audience’s mouth, but also cast a shadow on Joker‘s legacy. Todd Phillips was criticized for taking too many creative liberties — something that was previously considered one of Joker‘s biggest strengths. Now, giving a director the same degree of creative freedom seems like a liability.

The Superhero Genre Is Missing Out On A Major Untapped Part Of The Comics

Villain-Based Stories Have A Lot Of Potential For High-Budget Solo Movies And Shows

Although Joker: Folie à Deux‘s poor reception overshadowed Joker‘s groundbreaking success, Joker still showcases potential that few comic book adaptations have taken advantage of since 2019. Joker: Folie à Deux broke undesired box office records at the same time that The Penguin blew audiences away. Lauren LeFranc’s top-rated The Penguin follows a similar model to Joker. The Penguin doesn’t feature Batman and doesn’t set up future projects explicitly, nor does it attempt to redeem Oz Cobb, but it focuses on a single Batman villain and delves deep into his psyche.

The Penguin once again proved that DC villains are an untapped goldmine for live-action movies and shows centered exclusively around their protagonists. DC villains such as ᴅᴇᴀᴅsH๏τ, Sinestro, Catwoman, Bizarro, and Poison Ivy have led, if not their own comic book runs, then at least their own events and arcs. Other villains like Mister Freeze, Scarecrow, Lobo, Brainiac, Two-Face, and the Riddler also have well-defined backstories and motivations that could inform solo movies and shows just as well-written, well-sH๏τ, and overall just as exceptionally made as Joker and The Penguin.

I Hope DC’s Supervillain Movie Future Can Prove The Potential Of The Concept Once More

The DCU Will Place More Focus On The Villains’ Own Stories

After Joker: Folie à Deux‘s failure and The Penguin‘s success, no other self-contained solo projects starring DC villains have been announced. Instead, Warner Bros. has confirmed a Clayface solo movie set in James Gunn’s DCU, officially put in motion after Clayface’s on-screen debut in Creature Commandos. A Deathstroke and Bane movie is also reportedly in development at DC Studios, and there are a handful of movie and TV projects that are currently on the back burner while the DCU’s “Gods and Monsters” chapter takes shape. Some of these projects could be centered on other DC villains.

While DCU projects like Clayface and the unnamed Bane & Deathstroke movie are part of an interconnected franchise, they could focus exclusively on their respective protagonists, similarly to how Joker only featured Thomas, Martha, and Bruce Wayne as minor characters and The Penguin used The Batman‘s lore as background for its own story. Villains like Clayface, Bane, and Deathstroke could later appear as primary or secondary antagonists, anti-heroes, or even allies to DC heroes. Each of these characters’ subsequent DCU appearances will definitely benefit from the character development established by their respective solo movies or shows.

Upcoming DC Movie Releases

• 
  
  

  
  

  Superman

  Release Date

  
  July 11, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

• 
  
  

  
  

  Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

  Release Date

  
  June 26, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

• 
  
  

  
  

  The Batman Part II

  Release Date

  
  October 1, 2027
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse