Fans of Willem Dafoe have long suggested that the four-time Oscar nominee would be a good fit for The Joker.
Having already made quite the mark on the Marvel side with his turn as Green Goblin / Norman Osborne, it’s not hard to imagine that Dafoe would provide a striking interpretation of DC’s Clown Prince of Crime. Alas, it’s been quite the crowded space, with Heath Ledger, Cameron Monaghan (in the Gotham series), Jared Leto, and of course Joaquin Phoenix all taking on the part over the last fourteen years or so.
BUT, Dafoe has an idea for Joker 2.
Speaking to GQ, Dafoe unveiled a bit of an idea he had for how he could at least dabble with The Joker – and alongside Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, no less.
“There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter,” Dafoe explained. “So it would be possible to have not duelling Jokers but someone that says to be the Joker that isn’t the Joker. And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did. I fantasised about that.”
A solid idea, but it remains just that for now. “Other than that I am not talking to anybody [about it],” Dafoe added.
As of now, there’s no official word on whether a sequel to the 2019 film is in the works. Phoenix, who earned an Oscar for the role, has expressed some interest in revisiting the part, but remains unsure if Joker 2 will ever happen.
“From when we were shooting, we started to “”you know, uhh, [Joker] is an interesting guy,” Phoenix said in an interview with The Playlist in October. “There are some things we could do with this guy and could [explore] further. But as to whether we actually will? I don’t know.”
The Todd Phillips-directed Joker was a huge hit, earning $US1.07 billion worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing R-rated (U.S. classification) film of all time.
Ahead for Dafoe, who can currently be seen reprising his role as Green Goblin in MCU hit Spider-Man: No Way Home, is Viking epic The Northman, heist drama Inside, and western thriller Dead for a Dollar.
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