Joker: Folie à Deux and its surprising genre choices are actually in line with Harley Quinn’s original real-world creation story. After the solid success of Todd Phillips’ first Joker movie, audiences were naturally excited about the prospect of a follow-up film, as while the original could have remained a standalone spinoff based around the Joker’s ambiguous origins, there are several plot threads that also teased potential further installments. As a result, the announcement of the sequel led to much speculation regarding which path would be taken with it – and the reveal that Joker 2 will be a musical thriller only increased the number of theories on the topic.

In fact, for a good period of time, many outright didn’t believe Joker: Folie à Deux would be a musical, as this was something of a large departure from the first film. Even Joker 2 composer Hildur Guðnadóttir described the decision as “surprising”, though this was in the context of explaining that “I think it’s somehow logical at the same time. It’s both logical and also very surprising. For me as well as the audience.” The composer’s assurance that this unusual decision is logical already appears to have some weight to it even before the movie releases, as there are various reasons this call for Joker 2 makes sense, most especially given how it ties to Harley Quinn and her on-screen history.