The Joker Stairs Are Back, Baby
The Joker Stairs, the real star of Todd Philips' Joker (sorry Joaquin!), are coming back for the sequel. Not only are they back, in fact, but it's now Harley Quinn's turn to dance atop the Joker Stairs, as Lady Gaga makes the unexpected tourist destination her own stage.
On April 2, Gaga, who's playing an already-memorable Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux (set for a distant 2024 release), was seen frolicking atop the same set of stairs that Joaquin Phoenix effectively owned back when he debuted as the Joker in the eponymous 2019 film.
While Joaquin Phoenix's Joker enjoyed a solo performance atop the stairs, it looks like Gaga's Harley Quinn will be joined by a gaggle of cops, at least according to paparazzi snaps of the Joker: Folie à Deux set.
It's the first time we've seen The Joker Stairs since the original movie and they look great, despite all the tourists who've headed up to The Bronx to take a photo on them and piss off the locals.
Joker: Folie à Deux presents an interesting conundrum to moviegoers, who by 2024 will have been presented with both Gaga and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Phoenix, Jared Leto, and Barry Keoghan as the Joker (not including animated iterations).
Can they keep all these different iterations of the same characters apart in their minds or will they all be folded together along with past actors' takes on Quinn and Joker?
Better yet, will people really get excited about a musical sequel to a four-year-old movie that was essentially Scorsese's The King of Comedy with a fresh coat of clown makeup?
To that question, almost certainly yes. The first Joker made an ungodly amount of money, so much so that even threats of superhero fatigue will likely mean nothing to Joker: Folie à Deux's box office returns.
As for character differences, well, does it matter? People inexplicably love Joker and Harley Quinn and they probably don't care who plays them so long as they basically get slightly refreshed versions of the characters they're familiar with.
And The Joker Stairs are back too! Everyone loves the Joker Stairs, except the people who actually live in The Bronx.
