Director and co-writer Todd Phillips has begun discussing the musical aspects of the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, and how they came about.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Phillips was asked about the hallucinatory song-and-dance scenes in the trailer and said, "We never really talked about it like that, but I like to say it's a film where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn't veer too far from the first film." He went on to add, "Arthur [Fleck]'s weird and aloof and all these things, but he has music in him. He has a grace to him. That informed a lot of the dancing in the first film... it didn't feel like that big of a step here. It's different, but I think it'll make sense when you see it."

Joker hit theaters in 2019 and quickly became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time--a seat it still holds more than 3 years later--by a significant margin. The Clown Prince of Crime raked in $1.07 billion at the worldwide box office, followed by Deadpool 2 and Deadpool at $786 and $782 million respectively. Phillips' unique take on the character was also nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning two of those. Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor, while Hildur Guðnadóttir took him a golden statue for Original Music Score.

Phoenix returns to once again star in the sequel, and Phillips has returned to both write and direct. Alongside Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn, there are currently-unconfirmed reports of Zazie Beetz, Catherine Keener, Harry Lawtey, and Jacob Lofland joining the cast as well.

The film's title already feels like a solid fit for the characters. The term 'folie à deux,' or 'folly of two' is a french term that refers to a condition of shared psychosis or shared delusional disorder. Applying real-world medical terms to fictional characters can be rocky, but if ever there was a term to describe Joker and Harley Quinn, this sure seems like it.

Joker: Folie à Deux is currently scheduled to hit theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.