New Joker 2 Set Photos Feature Arkham Asylum On Fire

With shooting on the set of Joker: Folie à Deux now in full swing, candid behind-the-scenes footage continues to pour in across social media. From Lady Gaga’s first official debut as Harley Quinn to a chase scene through the streets of Los Angeles, details about the film only continue to get more interesting. Now, even more new photos and clips have showcased the set at Arkham Asylum, which appears to be in not-so-good shape.

Joker: Folie à Deux is the upcoming musical sequel to Arthur Fleck’s riveting spiral into his alter ego of Joker. As we recall, Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) wound up back at Arkham Asylum at the end of the first Joker (2019) film after his guest appearance on the Franklin Murray Show ended in bloodshed. Little is known yet about how his lockup turns out, aside from the first official photo shown by director Todd Phillips himself that appeared to have Fleck/Joker shaved by a fellow inmate. However, it seems he eventually chooses to escape on his own terms and wants to leave nothing behind. The set of Arkham Asylum is located in Newark, New Jersey, and new candid footage posted by fans on social media shows the building itself burning down. Whether this was concocted by both Joker and Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) remains to be seen. Rumors continue to circulate that Gaga’s version of Harley Quinn will be that of an actual Arkham patient instead of her traditional psychiatrist role, and Phillips hasn’t confirmed or denied it yet. If so, it certainly seems like an explosive way of making themselves known to the crime world.

First look at the set of “Joker 2” in New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/vwWF7ENoHN

— Lady Gaga Now 🃏 (@ladygaganownet) March 23, 2023

While Marvel on the other side of the aisle continues to chug forward into Phase Five of its cinematic universe and still seems to be struggling with an identity crisis with releases that seem to be getting too formulaic, the DCU is evidently set for its renaissance. Thanks largely to James Gunn’s ambitious slate of new projects with great promise, in a somewhat ironic flip-flop, the DCU is now where Marvel was pre-pandemic. Phillips’ upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, which is set to hit theaters October 4, 2024, is one of the main focal points so far of Gunn’s sub-universe DC Elseworlds, which houses all projects that aren’t directly connected to the mainline DCU projects. This also includes Matt Reeves’ upcoming sequel, The Batman II, which has a release date of October 3, 2025, and his spin-off series, The Penguin, which is currently in production.

On top of all that is Gunn’s Chapter One slate of projects; the first to fire it off is Superman: Legacy, which will hit theaters in 2025. Others include his twist on Gotham’s Caped Crusader, currently titled The Brave and the Bold, and some exciting series like the Wonder Woman spin-off Paradise Lost and Waller, which will see Viola Davis reprise the impeccably ruthless Amanda Waller. Needless to say, the MCU needs to get itself back on track soon before it poetically becomes the laughingstock of comic universes.