Todd Philips sets record straight on Joker 2: "There’s not a contract for us to even write a sequel"

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Just yesterday, news broke that director Todd Phillips was working on a Joker sequel at Warner Bros. The sequel's production was initially reported by The Hollywood Reporter, then other outlets attempted to clarify these claims, and by the end of the day the status of the Joker sequel was more "meh" than "yeah." Well, Todd Phillips himself has spoken to IndieWire to clarify that, as of right now, there is no Joker sequel in the works. But there could be.

“Here’s the real truth about a sequel,” Phillips told IndieWire. “While Joaquin and I have talked about it, and while touring the world with Warner Bros. executives — going to Toronto, and Venice, and other places — of course, we’re sitting at dinner and they’re saying, ‘So, have you thought about…?’ But, talking about contracts, there’s not a contract for us to even write a sequel, we’ve never approached Joaquin to be in a sequel. Will that happen? Again, I just think the article was anticipatory at best.”

GamesRadar+ reported on the initial newsbreak from The Hollywood Reporter and quickly updated our story two more times after Deadline and Variety weighed in, leaving the status of the movie in a very murky state. Deadline reported that Phillips had no deal for Joker 2, Variety reported that Phillips and Scott Silver had met with Warner Bros. and were in "very preliminary talks." But now we know, straight from Phillips, that there was no meeting, no deals in place, no script in development. 

So that's it, guys. There's no Joker sequel currently in the works, but there could be, and Joaquin and Philips have casually chatted about it with Warner Bros. executives. Case closed. Sort of.

You know what's not confusing? Our Black Friday game deals.  

Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante is an editor and features writer at GamesRadar based out of Brooklyn, NY. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.

Latest in DC Movies
Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
The 32 greatest Ben Affleck movies
Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn on set of Joker 2
Lady Gaga jokingly celebrates Joker 2 reception and Razzie nominations: "Joke's on them. I love winning things"
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
James Gunn reveals Jason Momoa text him about Lobo the day he was announced as DC Studios co-head
Batman and Catwoman talking
Robert Pattinson is hoping to team up with his The Batman co-star Zoe Kravitz on another project soon
Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in The Batman
Robert Pattinson worries he will be a "f*cking old Batman" by the time filming on The Batman 2 finally starts
Superman
Gen V star reveals he unsuccessfully auditioned for Superman and Homelander
Latest in News
First Berserker: Khazan screenshot showing two characters engaged in battle
Compare it to FromSoftware all you want, but the devs on this extremely promising hardcore action RPG say they're making "more than just a Soulslike"
Old School RuneScape Smite collab
MMO scholar puts a $500 bounty on old versions of RuneScape as part of a community archive project: "You might have ALL of the game's lost versions!"
Khazan holding a red glowing sword during the upcoming PS5 game, The First Berserker: Khazan.
"Games are meant to be engaging, not exhausting": Lead dev on promising Soulslike RPG pushes balanced difficulty because "if stress keeps piling up without relief, players will eventually want to quit"
A meeting inside one of Chrono Cross' cathedrals
There's never been a better time to play Chrono Trigger than on its 30th anniversary as the all-time JRPG great is just $4 in Steam Spring Sale
The Surrender
The Boys star's new horror movie gets great first reactions calling it "truly terrifying" featuring some of the "best performances" of 2025 so far
Ender Magnolia screenshot showing a spirit shooting at a monster enemy
One of the best new Metroidvanias just got a huge update with New Game+ and heaps more content like a boss rush mode