Joker: Folie à Deux’s Shocking Ending, Explained

Five years after 2019’s Joker, the long-awaited sequel Joker: Folie à Deux is in theaters now. The film takes place in the aftermath of the original, continuing Arthur Fleck’s story as he stands trial for his crimes in the earlier film. Now that the movie is out, many people are discussing the divisive ending to the film, and if you’re curious to hear how it all played out, keep reading.

Of course, massive spoilers for Joker: Folie à Deux follow below.

GQ saw the movie and broke down the ending. A major plot point of the sequel is Arthur’s courtroom trial. During the closing arguments, led by District Attorney Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) has an ah-ha moment and owns up to his actions. He denies that the Joker is a different persona and admits to his crimes.

This upsets Lady Gaga’s Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, who exits the courtroom. When Arthur’s guilty verdict comes down, a bomb is set off at the courthouse, giving him the chance to escape with two men dressed as Jokers. When the bomb goes off, Dent is injured, too–he becomes Two-Face.

After this, Arthur escapes to the iconic staircase near his apartment to find Lee. She doesn’t warmly embrace him, however, but instead turns him away. Lee wanted Arthur to lean into his Joker persona and potentially escape the murder charges by pleading insanity, so he could run away with her. Lee is no longer interested in Arthur, and he is once again the sad, lonely man we met in the first movie.

Later in the movie, Arthur is taken back to Arkham and meets a fellow inmate in a hallway. This person asks if Arthur wants to hear a joke, and then brutally stabs him to death. With Arthur on the floor dying, this inmate uses the knife to carve a smile onto his face. As GQ and others have theorized, this could mean Arthur was never really the actual “real” canon Joker.

The original Joker movie and the sequel of course are not beholden to any previous Joker media that came before it. Writer-director Todd Phillips has openly discussed branching off from the source material and writing his own unique story for the movie series. The films exist within the DC Elseworlds universe, meaning they are outside of the established DC canon.

Some reviewers and fans have said Folie à Deux feels like a waste of time and a middle finger to viewers in part due to the reveal that Arthur may not be the “real” Joker. Rolling Stone’s review of the film said the movie had a message for fans, and it was, “Go f**k yourselves.”

Another major reveal from Folie à Deux comes with Lee tells Arthur she is pregnant with his child, according to The Wrap. Whether or not she was telling the truth is unknown, and the movie doesn’t offer any details.

You don’t need to bother sticking around for an end-credits scene in Folie à Deux because the movie doesn’t have one. It also doesn’t have a mid-credits scene, according to IGN.

Phillips has said he is probably done making DC movies, so no one should expect him to come back for a potential Joker 3. But the movie does conclude with some topics that could be addressed in a follow-up, like if there is indeed a child and if the person who killed Arthur is the “real” Joker. Fans might also be curious to know what’s next for this universe’s version of Harvey Dent/Two-Face. But those questions may never be answered.

Folie à Deux had a bigger budget than the 2019 film and is expected to perform significantly worse than that movie for its first weekend. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more on the film’s performance at the box office.