No matter what happens between now and the end of the year, Todd Phillips’ Joker 2 is going to be remembered as one of the year’s most disappointing films released in theaters in 2024. The sequel bombed at the box office, alienated critics, and seemed to be a middle finger aimed at the audience that embraced the original movie. The movie can, and likely will, be examined for years to come about its intent, because there’s an argument to be made that Joker 2 was a direct reaction to the crowd that embraced Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) as a “hero.” And that’s part of the reason why Joker 2 co-star Tim Dillon hates the film, and thinks it failed.
Tim Dillon is a comic and a podcaster who played an Arkham Asylum guard in Todd Phillips’ Joker 2. And even though he’s in the movie, he’s no fan. While appearing on The Joe Rogan Podcast, Dillon got right to the point when he told the host:
It’s the worst film that has ever been made. It’s actually not ‘so bad.’ It’s the worst film ever made. I think what happened, after the first Joker, there was a lot of talk like, ‘Oh, this was loved by incels. This was loved by the wrong kinds of people. This sent the wrong kind of message. Male rage! Nihilism!’ All these think pieces. And then I think, ‘What if we went the other way,’ and now they have Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga tap dancing, to a point where it’s insane.
One of the standout elements of Joker 2 was the choice by Todd Phillips to make it a musical… without actually being a musical. Yes, the movie stars Lady Gaga, And yes, there are multiple moments in the film where characters break into song – sometimes to move the narrative along, and other times just so Phillips can stage flashy sequences. It allowed the creatives behind Joker 2 to make the argument that the movie was NOT a musical, but that confusion bled into audiences trying to figure out what, exactly, Joker 2 was trying to be.
That confusion apparently swept up the cast as they worked on it. As Tim Dillon went on to explain to Joe Rogan:
It has no plot. We would sit there, me and these other guys were all dressed in these security outfits because we’re working at the Arkham Asylum, and I would turn to one of them, and we’d hear this crap, and I’d go, ‘What the fuck is this?’ And they’d go, ‘This is going to bomb, man.’ I go, ‘This is the worst thing I’ve ever…’ We were talking about it at lunch, and we’d go, ‘What is the plot? Is there a plot? I don’t know, I think he falls in love with her in the prison?’
Joker 2 kept audiences guessing about its true intent until the very last shot. And as I wrote, I disliked what the finale said about Arthur Fleck’s journey, mainly because I thought that it negated the impact of the first movie. Why would anyone go back and rewatch two movies about a guy who doesn’t eventually become the Joker? It’s almost like Todd Phillips was playing a joke on his audience. Which is why Tim Dillon ultimately surmisses:
It’s not even hate watchable. That’s how terrible it is.
This has been a pretty solid year for comic book stories. Deadpool and Wolverine was a box office smash, and audiences flocked to The Penguin on Max, and Agatha All Along on Disney+ earlier this year. DC launches its new cinematic universe in December with Creature Commandos, but I don’t think we’re going to get Joker 3 anytime soon. Or ever.