Saw the trailer last night, it look…very interesting.
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Did the first film adhere to any comics origins? (Honestly asking; haven’t seen it.)
I’m not convinced Harley exists outside of Fleck’s mind. In the trailer there’s no sign of her interacting with any character other than him, and lots of scenes that could be complete fantasy. (Is the prison really staging a musical or is it his “happy place”? Do they really escape and do their own karaoke DJ set or are we in his head where music is “balancing the fractures within ourselves”? Are cops really holding back the “Free Joker”/“Shame on Gotham” crowds for her or is the car he’s in about to arrive and he’s just seeing that she’s “there with him”? Is he being chased by a fan dressed as him, or is he being chased by his own past when the dream goes sideways?)
i.e. he sees this woman notice him. It doesn’t matter who she really is; he builds a fiction in his head to “heal” himself back to the Joker, but the whole time he’s really just standing in the yard in the rain. The laugh is when he gets the joke.
// not sure any of this makes sense with the story arc. Just speculating based on what little I know and the trailer.
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Defensible point. The origins in Phillips’ first film in the series were skewed. I don’t support that ideology but I get that this is an elseworlds gig.
Agreed. 
OR- they could be engaged in a very deeply connected form of shared psychosis.
Def a possibility here. However we should also remember that Phillips may have taken all these points into contention during pre production and may be getting ready to drop something on us in this upcoming story conceptually that will flip the “all in Fleck’s mind” idea on its ear. 
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That’s sort of why I haven’t seen it yet. Feels like “Joker in name only” from the ads. I’ll probably eventually watch it - maybe when it’s on the IFE for a work trip. 
Especially because I’m slightly more interested in the sequel and suppose I should have the background.
True. Like maybe she exists and interacts with him but the fantasy is shared?
Very true. If a trailer is made well, it doesn’t reveal the story you’re actually getting at all. So hopefully I’m completely wrong. Though I still think it would make a fun (albeit a bit overplayed) story.
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Could be.
Yep but you also touched on a crucial point there- ‘overplayed’. Just like in the first movie I think Phillips is gonna’ want to challenge his audience’s expectations and suprise them with new ideas and concepts.
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I don’t know if this would happen, but it would be an interesting twist if she actually was a really good psychiatrist initially. Being an honest, ethical psychiatrist in Gotham would probably drive a lot of people to have mental health issues and could result in Harleen getting institutionalized and meeting Arthur. It would fit with the first movie’s theme of Gotham making its own monsters, and would keep her psychiatrist origin without having to have the abusive elements of the relationship (which I’m hoping aren’t in this movie, to be honest).
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I like it. 
Agreed. I really, really don’t want to watch any of that happening.
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I wasn’t really super excited when this movie was announced because I thought the first one didn’t really need a sequel. When they announced Harley was going to be in it I was even less excited, because I wanted to see Arthur Fleck abuse a woman into madness even less than I want to see him get beaten to a pulp by Batman. But I actually am kind of optimistic about it after this trailer.
The first movie was all about Arthur’s life and mental health falling apart to the point that he becomes the Joker. I think him finding a genuine connection and love (to the extent that he can even really feel that, as messed up as he is) with Harley (who encourages him to be his “real” self) would be an interesting way to move him forward into a full blown villain.
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Here’s a wild idea…what if Harley is the one to radicalize Arthur, or at least she’s the one who initiates everything and even serves as some kind of antagonist?
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I feel like this version of Joker and Harley is what people initially expect when first heard about or exposed to the two. Joker and Harley have the “Us against the world” outside exterior appearance that makes people interested, but it usually gets worse after that. In other words, I feel like this is what people wanted the first time we heard of Harley Quinn. Back when we thought she would just be a fun addition to his madness, not a victim of it.
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Yes, definitely agreed. I’m glad this is the direction it seems like they’re taking
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Agreed. Harley more like a co-conspirator and not a victim.
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The first film is on the week’s vudu sales for 6.99.
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Sadly guys we know it’s coming. If Phillips sticks to their established history we know Fleck’s going to be rekoJ and do horrible things to Harls. Just like I know that whenever my gurrrlll finally gets her story told in live action there’s gonna’ be point where me and the rest of the BG fandom are going to have to watch her open her apartment door and the malevolent monster’s horrors will flood the entire room. 
The silver lining however comes when both of them get settle accounts with him.
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I really, really hope not. In the first movie, Arthur did let the one coworker who was nice to him live and leave his apartment, so maybe this version isn’t as pure evil as he is traditionally? I hope he’s not, at least not when it comes to Harley. It would make him more interesting of a character, at least to me.
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