Joker: Folie à Deux Director Todd Phillips has been the target of harassment following the backlash for his recent DC blockbuster.
The 2023 musical sequel currently holds a measly 33% from critics and 31% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, not to mention its record-setting “D” CinemaScore, the worst animated film of all time.
Joker 2’s Todd Phillips gets a huge backlash
Director Todd Phillips shared photos from the UK premiere on Instagram Joker 2 Alongside stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, the filmmaker faced harassment in the comments section.
First, user Oceanadelolympus exclaimed, “Wtf is wrong with you? You ruined one of my favorite movies.” hints Joker 2 retroactively hurt the first movie.
Similarly, Warneum shared his hope that they “never watched this crappy sequel” like that “ruined people’s memories of the first movie.”
Further criticizing Design_by_igor_m stated, “The second part of the Joker is an insult to the fans” and called it “a devastating movie.”
Among the more specific criticism, there were plenty of general insults, name-calling Folie à Deux “bad”, “trash”, “crap” or a “fuck you fans.”
While movie guests may be at Phillips’ throat right now, one filmmaker has come to his rescue. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (who directed this year’s wide-ranging film Megalopolis) said on Instagram that the directors’ films “always amaze (her)” and he is “always one step ahead of the audience.”
Despite Phillips’ comment section, some fans have defended the film, such as Edictorey, who said that people hate Joker 2 “just wanted and cared about Joker” while “No one cared about the real Arthur:”
“People hate it because this society (like the movie shows) only wanted and cared about the joker, but got what he deserved, his end. No one cared about the REAL Arthur, everyone only cared about the idea they created of him, he was never the Joker, society created the Joker out of a criminal idol.” “
They added it “people hate (Joker 2) for the reason that it should actually be praised” before ending with a “Great job Todd:”
“People hate it because it should really be praised. It shows that people don’t care about someone else’s true feelings, how they can benefit from it, or just laugh at someone else’s struggles. You did a great job Todd!”
Can Todd Phillips bounce back from the Joker 2 disaster?
Todd Phillips won gold Joker because it removed him from his helm days Hangover and other raunchy comedies favoring the iconic DC character’s mature character with a deep message about society.
Despite most of the agreement Joker never needed a sequel and its ambiguous ending was enough, its billion-dollar box office haul and record position as the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (at the time) inevitably compelled a follow-up.
Several important factors led to it Joker: Folie à Deux backlashes, not the least of which was that the sequel was by all accounts never meant to happen.
Although Folie à Deux may have met with overwhelming criticism, fans of Phillips’ work can only hope that he will get over the anger, turn a corner, and return to theaters with another triumph in a few years.
However, the filmmaker has already confirmed that he has quit DC, telling the Hollywood Reporter that he is “time in the DC universe were these two movies” apparently ruling out a directing gig in James Gunn’s new reboot.
Joker: Folie à Deux is now playing in theaters worldwide.
