Let's Talk About Joker 2's Big Arthur Fleck & Harley Quinn Twist

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for "Joker: Folie à Deux," so proceed with caution.

With such a long, colorful history in DC Comics, as well as the more recent big screen interpretation by the Oscar-nominated Margot Robbie, fans have been wondering what Lady Gaga's interpretation of Harley Quinn would be like in Todd Phillips' blockbuster sequel "Joker: Folie à Deux." Footage from the trailers has made it clear that this version of Harley still has an affinity for Joker (aka Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix) after his murder spree in the preceding "Joker" movie from 2019. However, gone is the trademark Brooklyn accent, along with her backstory as a former psychologist named Harleen Quinzel who fell in love with her patient, the Joker, during an internship at Gotham City's Arkham Asylum. Instead, she's a mental patient in at the facility, where Fleck awaits trial for murder, and this version of the character also refers to herself simply as Lee.

When Harley Quinn was first introduced in "Batman: The Animated Series," she was created as a henchwoman for the Joker. Originally intended as a one-off character, Harley Quinn became Joker's loyal sidekick and love interest who recurred several times throughout the series. However, as the character's popularity surged across various DC Comics animated projects and comic book arcs, Harley eventually came to realize she was in an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship with Joker, and she's since branched out into becoming a villain with a reputation of her own. Not only has she become a signature member of the Suicide Squad, but she's also sparked a romance and criminal partnership with Poison Ivy.

While the world of DC Comics has seen Harley Quinn manipulated by Joker into becoming a criminal and villain, instead, "Joker: Folie à Deux" paints the character as a mental patient who is fascinated and obsessed with Joker. After witnessing Arthur Fleck killing Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) on live television, she didn't feel quite so alone anymore. So when Arthur's apparent good behavior in Arkham Asylum is rewarded with an opportunity to attend a music therapy class, Lee becomes friendly with Arthur and encourages his insane rebelliousness that has since created a citizen uprising in Gotham City. In fact, "Folie à Deux" actually makes it so that Lee is the one manipulating Joker — but that's not even the biggest twist in their relationship.

When Lee meets Arthur, she claims to be from his neighborhood, and she also tells him that her father is dead and her mother is the one who had her committed after she set fire to her parents' apartment. After Lee starts a fire during the hospital's movie night for some of the mental patients, she and Arthur try to escape in a musically driven sequence, but both end up getting caught. Lee comes to visit Arthur in his more restricted wing of Arkham, and she tells him that they're transferring her somewhere else because Arthur is a bad influence. Before she leaves, Lee and Arthur embrace romantically and consummate their love — but only after Lee has applied a quick face of Joker make-up on Arthur's face. 

However, Arthur eventually learns from his lawyer Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) that Lee is a rich girl from the Upper West Side, her father isn't dead, and she actually had herself committed to Arkham Asylum. She's been lying to Arthur, and it seems like Lee is actually the one who's a bad influence on him. Stewart is concerned that she's going to derail the case, which is trying to frame Joker as a separate personality and claim that Arthur's crimes were a result of mental illness. But Lee makes Arthur feel like he finally has something to live for. Even after Lee admits that she lied to Arthur, she manages to convince him that they have a future, and he doesn't trust anyone but her. She fills him with a renewed sense of hope that literally makes him sing and dance. 

Lee makes Arthur believe he's going to come away from this trial a free man, even though he's fired his attorney and is rather poorly representing himself. She's even allegedly rented out his old apartment, so they can have a home together. Oh, and that little intimate encounter they had before she left Arkham? Apparently, it has left her pregnant.

Can we believe Lee at all though? She's already proven that she didn't tell the truth about the most basic details of her life. Is she really pregnant, or is this just another way for her to push Arthur to keep fighting and let Joker come through again?

After Arthur's trial begins, in a moment of madness, he fires his attorney and opts to represent himself in full Joker makeup. Even as it becomes clear he doesn't stand a chance at making anyone believe that Joker is actually an alternate personality brought on by Arthur's childhood trauma, he has the support of hundreds of people outside the courthouse, and cameras are covering the trial live. Everyone is watching. It's the big spotlight and the show that Arthur has always dreamed to have. That's when he accepts the truth: there is no Joker.

Joker does not exist. Arthur Fleck committed those murders. Joker is just a man in clown makeup who succumbed to his own darkness. He knew what he was doing when he pulled the trigger. Arthur admits this live on TV, and he even reveals that he's also responsible for the death of his mother. This disappoints the cult of Joker that has risen up around him, especially Lee, who has been coming to court each day to support him. Upon Arthur's admission, Lee walks out of the courtroom, and despite a musical plea from Arthur over the phone later that night before the closing statements and verdict the next day, she does not return. 

However, Arthur's court case is about to take an explosive turn ... literally. A car bomb goes off outside the courthouse, blasting through the courtroom wall and creating a scene of debris and devastation. When Arthur awakes after the initial blast, he runs away through the massive hole in the wall amidst all the panic and smoke. He even gets some help from a couple loyal followers, one fully dressed as Joker appeared in the 2019 movie, the other wearing a clown mask. But as they quickly shuffle him off in a car in a fast escape through the city, there's only one place he wants to be.

Arthur returns to his old neighborhood, specifically the stairs where he so famously danced. Lee is waiting, but she's not there for him. She wasn't in love with Arthur, she was only in love with Joker. Since Arthur made it clear that Joker wasn't real, Lee isn't interested in running off with him anymore. Lee only loved Arthur as long as he was Joker, because the criminal clown made her feel less alone in her own insanity. That's not exactly the strongest way to start a relationship.

Arthur is left alone again. The police find him, and he's taken back to Arkham. Without the legacy of Joker to paint him in a respectable light among the insane people of Arkham, he's left vulnerable. He's stabbed violently by another inmate, who leads into the murder with a joke not unlike the one Arthur used to lead up to the killing of Murray Franklin. Arthur killed Joker, but another Joker was waiting just around the corner.

By the end of the movie, Lee is completely different from the version of Harley Quinn we know. While she began a conditional relationship with Joker, rather than becoming codependent and following him wherever he goes, she pulled away from him as soon as she realized that Arthur was not the Joker that she wanted him to be. Lee might be unstable and manipulative, but at least she knows what she wants, and she's not willing to settle for anything less. But what now?

Todd Phillips has indicated he's done with Joker, and this ending would seem to corroborate that. But what about Lee? She's obviously driven by her own ambition, and she's proven that she can create her own brand of chaos. Without Joker to be tethered to, what could she possibly do next? 

For Phillips' part, it doesn't sound like he's interested. At the premiere of "Joker: Folie à Deux," the director addressed a potential Harley Quinn spinoff (via Variety) by saying, "For me, I've always thought that these two movies kind of exist as their own thing. And, no. I know you're trying to get the next thing, but I don't want to go into that." However, Lady Gaga's work with Harley Quinn may only just be beginning. Speaking with Hits Radio, when asked if she would want to explore Lee more as a character, Gaga said, "I definitely would. I definitely don't feel done with Lee as a character. She's got so much to say. What an interesting gal."

If Lee has so much to say, it's because she doesn't actually say a lot in "Joker: Folie à Deux." By the time the credits roll, I couldn't tell you exactly what her purpose was in the movie, or what the relationship she had with Arthur Fleck was supposed to accomplish. The film is about as deep as a bird bath, and if Warner Bros. wants to continue Lee's story, it's going to take a lot more than a slightly unhinged Lady Gaga singing imperfectly and wearing smeared makeup to make it work. 

"Joker: Folie à Deux" is playing in theaters everywhere now.