Op-Ed: The Last Thing Our Culture Needs is a Sequel to “Joker”

Now there appears to be a sequel in the works for the Joaquin Phoenix-starring Joker movie, as though we truly need such a production now.

ComicBook.com reports:

It may be no time at all until a Joker sequel enters earnest development. In a recent report looking at the corporate shuffling at Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s said the studio is “getting pretty close” to greenlighting Todd Phillips’ follow-up. The report itself comes from insider Matthew Belloni of Puck News, who suggests new Warner CEO David Zaslav is all-in on Phillips. Earlier this month, other reports suggested Warners Brothers was looking for Phillips’ guidance with a bigger role within DC Films.

The Joaquin Phoenix-starring origin story ended up as the Clown Prince of the box office, grossing a whopping $1.074 billion worldwide. Because the Oscar-winning film only carried a production budget around $55 million, it’s thought the picture is the most profitable comic book film ever released.

And considering the premise and spotlight, to say nothing of any violent content such a movie emphasizes, that’s why it’s honestly sad this movie had to take in as much as it did in hindsight. Because it ends up making one wonder if there’s only so many people out there who really believe spotlighting evil and darkness is the greatest gift to the world. Not so. Because there’s already too much as it is.

I decidedly won’t be watching a sequel, if it’s greenlighted. Obsessive focus on darkness and criminals is not what we need in an era where heroism has been all but downplayed.

Originally published here.