The trailer for "Joker: Folie À Deux" features Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in a jukebox musical. The song "What The World Needs Is Love" by Jackie DeShannon features prominently in the trailer, suggesting an emotional connection between the Joker and Harley Quinn. The sequel to the critically acclaimed film "Joker" promises to include covers of songs from the 1960s and 15 previously recorded tracks. The presence of the music in the trailer indicates the Joker's hope and desire for love in the midst of chaos. The film is scheduled for release on October 4, 2024. Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix star.
Summary
The trailer for The Joker: Folie À Deux teases a series of sequences in the jukebox musical co-starring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The trailer for the Joker sequel includes a cover of a 1960s song that is an emotional cry for hope. The choice of song in the trailer suggests a connection with the Joker's emotional journey and relationship with Harley Quinn.
The first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux has arrived and it has a musical element that is a fitting choice to emulate the mental struggles of Joaquin Phoenix's anti-hero, Arthur Fleck. A sequel to Todd Phillips' DC blockbuster, Joker, confirmed details about Joker: Folie à Deux suggest that it would be a jukebox musical. With the cast of Joker: Folie à Deux also featuring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, the toxic romance between the Clown Prince of Gotham and his psychiatrist turned love interest undergoes a major reworking. What's interesting, though, is how much the trailer downplays the musical elements of the film.
With the trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux offering some mind-blowing stage visuals, these scenes serve as a pastiche of old musicals or Broadway plays with Joker and Harley Quinn performing duets. Although Lady Gaga already won a Grammy as a pop star before her acting career, Johnny Cash's biopic Walk The Line likewise makes Phoenix's musical turn as the Joker promising. Still, the trailer doesn't show Phoenix or Gaga actually performing any musical numbers. However, a cover of a song is heard in the trailer footage, something that could be more than just a needle drop from the past.
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The Joker: The song from the Folie À Deux trailer is "What The World Needs Is Love"
The song is a cover of a track originally sung by Jackie DeShannon
The song that plays in the trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux is a cover of "What The World Needs Is Love", a 1965 song first recorded by pop-rock artist Jackie DeShannon. Written in simple rhymes by lyricist Hal David, the 1960s track was later remixed in 1971 by Tom Clay, who interspersed speeches by John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Not much is known about the cover version that appears in the trailer, but the presence of the song suggests that the musical may include more tracks from the 60s.
It is known that Joker: Folie À Deux will be a jukebox musical with interpretations of 15 previously recorded songs. With "What The World Needs Is Love" in the trailer, Todd Phillips' Joker films continue the trend of featuring iconic songs from the decade. Even though Joker is set in the 1980s and includes music from that era, some crucial scenes were accompanied by releases from the 1960s, such as Frank Sinatra's uplifting ballad, "That's Life", and Cream's chaotic rock anthem, "White Room". Such a convergence of musical eras and genres can be multiplied in Joker: Folie À Deux considering its tonal shifts.
Why "What The World Needs Is Love" suits Joker: the story of Folie À Deux
The lyrics are comparable to the life of Arthur Fleck
Using Jackie DeShannon's music for the first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux may subtly foreshadow the premise of the Joker sequel. As was evident in the soundtrack to the first Joker, the musical choices subtly conveyed the mood of the central character, Arthur Fleck. While the use of a track like "Send in the Clowns" fits the titular Joker theme in a literal sense, Sinatra's classic "That's Life" plays during the Joker's twist ending and conveys the escapist fun that Fleck achieved in Arkham. Despite having murdered and created anarchic chaos throughout the city, the song conveys his morbid joy.
Crossing Harley Quinn's path is what might finally provide the Joker with a "sweet love". "
But while "That's Life" was a song of acceptance, "What The World Needs For Love" is a cry for hope. DeShannon's laid-back vocals are accompanied by lyrics that yearn for a more equal society. With the main refrain of the song from the trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love", Joker fans will surely remember Fleck's emotional speech on Live With Murray Franklin when he expressed his desire to be loved by an increasingly cruel society. Perhaps crossing Harley Quinn's path is what will finally provide the Joker with "sweet love" in Joker: Folie à Deux.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to Todd Phillips' critically acclaimed comic book thriller, Joker. Reprising his Oscar-winning performance as failed comedian Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix revisits the iconic DC character alongside Lady Gaga, who makes her debut as the Joker's lover, Harley Quinn, in this standalone DC Universe continuity.
Director Todd Phillips
Release date October 4, 2024
Writers Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Joker franchise(s)
Main release dates
