Back in 2019, DC Comics fans were treated to a new iteration of a comic-book adaptation, which was the Todd Phillips-directed film Joker. It centered around Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) disturbed mental illnesses and his endeavors to become a stand-up comedian in an otherwise dull and seedy Gotham City. Arthur is sidetracked by his mental illnesses and travels to Arkham Asylum to understand the details of his fuzzy childhood, and later finds out that his own mother let one of her boyfriends abuse him by leaving Fleck chained to a radiator.

Fleck’s comedic efforts ultimately fail but not before he could get the attention of talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), who invites him on his show, but only so that his audience can make fun of Arthur. As a result, Fleck shoots and kills Franklin and begins his descent into darkness.

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The film was one of the most controversial comic-book adaptations to ever release to theaters, and only received a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite that, it was the largest-grossing R-rated film, generating over one billion at the box-office. With all that money, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise that Warner Bros. would be thinking of making a sequel, and they have those intentions, according to The Direct. However, that doesn’t seem like a great idea for a movie of this caliber.

The Story Doesn’t Need a Continuation

     Warner Bros. Pictures

What seems like the most obvious reason for this film to not get a sequel is that a sequel to this story doesn’t make sense. The first film was made as a standalone comic-book feature that was to have no connection to the DCEU. Given that the film ends with Fleck seemingly being caught by authorities and sent back to the asylum, the film’s open-ended and ambiguous finale seems more elusive if it just stays in that state.

The ending of the film gives it the mystery that surrounds the themes. Its nuanced and subtle mechanics gave the audience enough of Fleck that they were invested in the character. Knowing that Fleck has currently become an icon, his development and character as the clown prince of crime doesn’t really need that much more elaboration. He and the film have a unique quality that most DC films could never capture.

It Could Dilute the Beauty of the First Film

     Warner Bros.

Something that people often see in Hollywood, is the consistent use of franchises bombarding the silver screens. Watching Joker, audiences saw a brand-new evolution in superhero cinema, whereby, instead of monsters and space alien fights colliding across the screen, audiences see a man trying to make his way through the world in all of this madness.

The film proved to be a departure from franchise films and lent a down-to-earth grounded story apart from the DCEU and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Noticeably, franchises like Star Wars and Marvel have made a plethora of films that have made a lot of money for their companies (mainly Disney). Their excessive movie-making and world-building has practically watered each movie down to the point that it’s hard to make-out which film stands out in each franchise.

If Joker decides to go down this track of sequels and world-building, it will make the 2019 film less important and less relevant over the years with each new movie that comes out. Leaving Todd Phillips’ movie alone is the only way to make and keep Joker special and unique in comic-book adaptations.

The Film Would Feel Redundant

To be fair, there isn’t that much that the sequel could talk about when building upon what has already been established in the first film. The sequel might go further and talk about his meetings with Batman and/or Harley Quinn, but that has already been developed in previous DC films, and who wants to see another interaction between The Dark Knight and Joker?

The film would feel redundant, rather than adding something new to comic-book films. It would ultimately rehash what fans have already become accustomed to.

It Might Flop at the Box Office

In a Hollywood pattern that seems too familiar, is that the sequel will probably not do as well as the original. Moreover, it might even fail at the box office, since many sequels fail to match the success of their predecessors. Since the first film set the bar so incredibly high, the sequel seems less likely to do the same.

When you combine all of those statistics and factors, if the sequel should come to light, the film would have a lot depending on it, and it could definitely be a blow to the series if it doesn’t deliver.