This week marks the start of filming on Joker: Folie à Deux, according to a post by director Todd Phillips on Instagram. Phillips shared an image of Joaquin Phoenix‘s violent antihero, Arthur Fleck, getting a close shave ahead of his return to this darker corner of the DC Universe. I mean, nobody one wants that 5’oclock shadow under their clown makeup! And you gotta look fresh for his girl, Harley!
The movie’s title, àx, is taken from the French phrase meaning a madness shared by two people. At the end of “Joker,” Arthur Fleck was confined to Arkham Asylum but made a break for freedom after seemingly killing his therapist, leaving bloodied footprints in his wake. Whether or not he actually makes it out of the building was left ambiguous, but assuming the orderlies caught up to him, he’s perfectly positioned for his canonical first meeting with Dr. Harleen Quinzel — aka the future Harley Quinn.
Check out the first image from set after the jump!