Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker appears shirtless in haunting promo image for sequel

Joker 2 writer-director Todd Phillips has treated his Instagram followers to a disturbing first look at Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as the main villain.

The 51-year-old Oscar-nominated filmmaker posted a picture Saturday of his 48-year-old Oscar-winning star in character as Arthur Fleck, also known as the Joker.

A shirtless Phoenix is ​​seen leaning his head against a sink while a barber shaves him on the first day of filming.

Wow: Joker 2 writer-director Todd Phillips, 51, has treated his Instagram followers to an unsettling first look at Joaquin Phoenix, 48, reprising his role as the main villain. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker posted an image on Saturday of his Oscar-winning star in character as Arthur Fleck, also known as the Joker.

“Day 1,” Phillips captioned the photo. ‘Our boy. #jester’

With her body seemingly malnourished and sickly, Phoenix rested her head on a towel and stared up at the ceiling with her character’s cold dark eyes.

Shaving cream covers the lower half of his face as a barber’s hand holds a razor to his throat.

With this photo and caption, fans finally have confirmation that the highly anticipated follow-up to 2019’s critically acclaimed blockbuster has begun filming after years of development.

The R-rated Joker was a surprise big hit at the box office, earning $335.4 million domestically and $1.074 billion worldwide on a meager budget of $55 million.

Crazy Money: The R-Rated Joker was a surprise big hit at the box office in 2019, earning $335.4 million domestically and $1.074 billion worldwide on a meager budget of $55 million.

A Second Round of Madness: The dark psychological thriller pushed the boundaries of the genre with its intense depiction of the Joker’s descent into madness and mayhem.

The dark psychological thriller pushed the boundaries of the genre with its intense portrayal of the Joker’s descent into madness and chaos.

The film’s portrayal of mental illness was polarizing, but Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance garnered universal acclaim.

While Joker was never intended to have a sequel, its critical and commercial success prompted both Phillips and Phoenix to return for Joker 2, which is slated for an October 4, 2024 release.

Titled Joker: Folie a Deux, the sequel is reportedly a musical and will feature multi-hyphenate megastar Lady Gaga in the iconic role of the Joker’s sidekick, Harley Quinn.

No kidding: The film’s portrayal of mental illness was polarizing, but Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance garnered universal acclaim.

Hello Harley – Titled Joker: Folie a Deux, the sequel is reportedly a musical and will feature multi-hyphenate megastar Lady Gaga, 36, in the iconic role of the Joker’s sidekick, Harley Quinn.

While this will be the first time Gaga has been directed by Phillips, the filmmaker served as a producer on her feature film debut in 2018’s A Star Is Born.

That film earned Gaga an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and she won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

The multi-platinum singer followed up her Oscar-nominated performance in A Star Is Born by playing Patrizia Reggiani in last year’s House of Gucci.

Both Gaga and Phoenix have been known to inhabit their roles with a fierce intensity that some in the industry have found difficult.

The title Folie a Deux is a medical term meaning: ‘an identical or similar mental disorder affecting two or more people, usually members of a close family’.

The title: Folie a Deux is a medical term meaning: ‘an identical or similar mental disorder affecting two or more people, usually members of a close family’