10 DC Heroes & Villains That We Want To Appear In Joker: Folie À Deux

While Joker: Folie à Deux takes place in a standalone continuity, there’s a small chance that other DC characters will make an appearance alongside Joker and Harley Quinn. Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga star in the Joker: Folie à Deux cast as Joker and Harley Quinn, two Arkham patients who fall in love with each other and become a criminal couple with the same altered perception of reality. Phoenix’s Joker and Gaga’s Harley Quinn are quite different from DC’s traditional depiction of the villains, who share a grudge with Batman and belong in a more fantastical Gotham City.

Matt Reeves’ The Batman continuity is adapting Batman’s comic book mythos to the big and the small screen, and James Gunn’s DCU is set to explore Batman’s relationship with other DC heroes and villains. Meanwhile, Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux focuses solely on Joker, Harley Quinn, and their closest allies and enemies, hence why Batman and other famous Gotham-based characters are unlikely to appear. However, some comic book heroes and villains are relevant enough to Joker and Harley Quinn’s story that they could join Joker: Folie à Deux‘s list of DC characters, at least as brief cameos.

10 Jim Gordon

GCPD Commissioner James Gordon Could Lead The War Against Criminals Like Joker And Harley Quinn

In DC Comics, James Gordon is the Gotham City Police Department commissioner and Batman’s right-hand ally. Usually, Gordon is the only truly honest member of the GCPD, and his experience with the organization allows him to help Batman in his vigilante duties without risking his job. While he doesn’t fully agree with Batman’s justice-seeking methods, James Gordon respects the Dark Knight and is willing to put his life on the line to support the hero. James Gordon is a staple of Batman stories, having appeared in every live-action Batman movie and show so far.

James Gordon might be one of the most likely DC characters to appear in Joker: Folie à Deux. At this point in the timeline, Gordon could be a regular detective who’s climbing up the ladder and growing increasingly weary both of his corrupt colleagues and of criminals like the Joker. Although James Gordon is unlikely to play a big role in Joker: Folie à Deux if he appears, the movie could reveal that he already has gotten in touch with Bruce Wayne to provide him with emotional support after the death of his parents.

9 Harvey Dent

Joker Could Give Harvey Dent The Perfect Justification For A Political Campaign

Two events are constant in Harvey Dent’s life all across the DC multiverse. First, Dent is a genuinely honest politician who promises to overhaul Gotham City and get rid of its crime and corruption. Second, Dent becomes the victim of an attack that leaves exactly half of his face and body disfigured, affecting his psyche to the point that he abandons his political campaign and turns into a full-fledged villain nicknamed Two-Face. Harvey Dent’s traumatic attack leads him to develop an obsession with a 50/50 approach to justice, which Dent represents in the form of a coin toss.

Harvey Dent is an ideal character to include in realistic Batman stories, which makes him a potential candidate for an appearance in both The Batman – Part II and Joker: Folie à Deux. In fact, signs criticizing Harvey Dent were reportedly spotted in outdoor filming locations for Joker: Folie à Deux, which suggests that Joker: Folie à Deux‘s version of Harvey Dent is already Mayor of Gotham City in the movie and may be leading a public campaign against Joker and his supporters.

8 Hugo Strange

Dr. Hugo Strange Could Be An Arkham State Hospital Psychologist

Hugo Strange is a Batman villain who has been overlooked by most live-action DC movies and series, with Gotham being the only exception. In the comics, Hugo Strange is a psychologist obsessed with physical and mental perfection. His wish to find a perfect living being leads him to develop a fixation on Batman, and his intellect allows him to discover the Dark Knight’s real identity using nothing but deduction. Strange dreams of killing and replacing Batman, but his lack of physical prowess means that he needs to resort to different methods than sheer force to achieve it.

Bruce Wayne is a long way from becoming Batman by the time Joker meets Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux. While Hugo Strange may not be obsessed with the Dark Knight yet, he could already be working as a psychologist at Arkham State Hospital. Instead of Batman, Hugo Strange could develop a special interest on Arthur Fleck’s mind. Depending on the specific circumstances of Joker and Harley Quinn’s first encounters at Arkham, Hugo Strange could either oppose their relationship and pay the price for it or help them spend more time together.

7 The Ventriloquist

Arnold Wesker Could Be Another Criminal-Turned-Entertainer In Gotham City

Arnold Wesker is a lesser-known Gotham criminal with a psychological disorder that leads him to execute terrorist attacks, seemingly against his own will. Wesker’s dissociative disorder is manifested in his compulsion to operate a puppet called Scarface. While Wesker depicts Scarface as a ruthless gangster with violent tendencies, Wesker himself behaves like Scarface’s reluctant hostage. Like many other similar Gotham criminals, Arnold Wesker a.k.a. the Ventriloquist, often finds himself on Batman’s crosshairs, which in turn results in his return to Arkham.

The Ventriloquist’s eerie modus operandi makes him a reasonable option for a Joker: Folie à Deux cameo. Arnold Wesker could be a fellow patient at Akrham State Hospital, where he could envy Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn’s passion for music, as well as their literal and metaphorical liberation when they embrace their criminal tendencies and their acceptance by a certain part of society. After all, the Ventriloquist is also an innate performer and entertainerwho uses his talents for violent purposes.

6 Jonathan Crane

The Scarecrow Could Be Either An Arkham Doctor Or A Patient

Like Hugo Strange, Jonathan Crane is a Gotham psychologist-turned-villain with an unhealthy obsession, in his case related to fear and its effects on the mind. A master scientist and strategist, Crane uses his fear toxin to create hallucinations in his enemies, blurring the line between reality and nightmare within their minds so they’re easy to manipulate to his will. Jonathan Crane adopts the name of Scarecrow and wears the proper mask and outfit to match his moniker.

Jonathan Crane could appear in Joker: Folie à Deux as a psychologist, either working at Arkham or visiting the hospital as an independent doctor to research Arthur Fleck’s particular psychological condition. Considering that the Joker showcases symptoms of the real-life Pseudobulbar Affect disorder, Jonathan Crane could offer Arthur a treatment that consists of a small dose of fear toxin (possibly under a less suspicious name) in order to try and supress his uncontrollable laughing fits. This would be a subtle way to include Jonathan Crane 19 years after Cillian Murphy brought Scarecrow to live-action in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

5 Calendar Man

Similarly to Hugo Strange, Scarecrow, and the Ventriloquist, Julian Day is a criminal with an unhealthy fixation. Calling himself Calendar Man, Day has an all-absorbing obsession with dates, and he carries out his criminal plans according to each season, month, week, and day, often crafting complicated excuses for the date’s relevance in his actions. Calendar Man made a cameo appearance in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad as a comedy relief character played by Sean Gunn. Beyond that, his potential as a criminal mastermind as brilliant and evil as the Joker and the Riddler remains untapped in live-action.

Joker: Folie à Deux could be the first movie to give Calendar Man a significant role, possibly as a patient at Arkham State Hospital. Joker and Harley Quinn’s public appearances could provide Julian Day with an excuse to come up with conspiracy theories, either in their favor or against them. Joker’s impact on Gotham City could be the reason why Calendar Man’s obsession with dates begins in the first place. It could inspire him to recreate Joker’s revolution — to less successful results, of course.

4 Oswald Cobblepot

The Joker Could Cross Paths With Crime Bosses Like The Penguin

Oswald Cobblepot a.k.a. the Penguin is one of the most famous members of Batman’s rogue gallery in DC Comics. At an early age, Cobblepot overcomes the insecurities he developed from a birth condition that earned him the nickname “Penguin”. He then goes a step further and drops all hints of empathy from his consciousness, and soon rises through the ranks in Gotham’s criminal underworld. Weaponizing his unique physical features, Oswald Cobblepot becomes a powerful crime lord and joins forces with supervillains in order to oppose Batman and the Bat-Family’s crime-fighting efforts.

Arkham State Hospital isn’t the only place where Joker and Harley Quinn could meet other Batman villains in Joker: Folie à Deux. Joker has already gained massive popularity in Gotham, not only from regular citizens who see an elite-toppling revolutionary in Arthur Fleck but also from criminals who want to take advantage of the ensuing chaos. Oswald Cobblepot could be a criminal on the rise using Joker’s followers as scapegoats for his crimes or an already established crime boss who sees Joker as a threat to his business.

3 Renee Montoya

Detective Renee Montoya Could Be Stepping On Joker And Harley Quinn’s Toes

Renee Montoya is another honorable member of the Gotham City Police Department, trained by James Gordon’s colleague and close friend Harvey Bullock. Despite her love for her job, Montoya prefers to fight crime as an independent vigilante. Renee Montoya takes on difficult cases using a mark that makes it seem as though she has no face, taking up the mantle of The Question, succeeding the original owner of the moniker, Vic Sage. Like Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya was conceived by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series, after which she made the jump to the comics.

Although introducing Renee Montoya before James Gordon in Joker: Folie à Deux would entail a big change in the Gotham lore, it would make sense for the Joker sequel to skip Gordon, for a change. Renee Montoya has only appeared as minor character in live-action, with small appearances in Gotham, The CW’s Batwoman, and the DCEU’s Birds of Prey. Joker: Folie à Deux could feature Renee Montoya as a detective who takes it upon herself to bring down Joker and Harley Quinn despite their possible pardon by the court of law.

2 Alfred Pennyworth

The Wayne Family’s Butler Could Provide An Update On Bruce Wayne’s Status

Like James Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth is a staple of Batman stories in all formats, live-action or otherwise. Alfred is famously Batman’s closest confidant and the only person Bruce Wayne considers family apart from his protégés. It was Alfred who raised Bruce all by himself in the absence of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and the one who helped him create his Batman identity in secret, tending to his wounds and keeping his double life a secret.

Alfred’s introduction in Joker: Folie à Deux would be a logical evolution of Bruce Wayne’s off-screen story after Murray Franklin’s death kicked off a chain reaction that resulted in the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, as shown in Joker‘s multi-layered ending. At some point during Joker: Folie à Deux, Arthur Fleck or Harley Quinn could visit the Wayne mansion, but instead of a slightly older Bruce Wayne, they could find Alfred Pennyworth, who could accidantally update them on Bruce Wayne’s status and reveal that his parents’ deaths left a huge impact on his life, suggesting Batman’s eventual arrival.

1 Poison Ivy

Pamela Ivy Could End Up Stealing Harley Quinn From The Joker

Dr. Pamela Ivy is an expert in botanical chemistry with a promising career in science, but her unstable psyche leads her to use her expertise for criminal purposes. Calling herself Poison Ivy, Pamela develops a deep love for all plant life, as well as an intense wish to control every living being’s mind. Since Batman’s wits allow him to thwart Poison Ivy’s plans multiple times, she also becomes obsessed with defeating him. Poison Ivy is notoriously Harley Quinn’s true love after Harley breaks up with the Joker due to his abusive behavior.

Joker: Folie à Deux promises to be a love story between Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn. However, Joker and Harley are both far from being level-headed enough to mantain a healthy relationship, especially considering that Arthur Fleck has previously demonstrated a proclivity for stalking a romantic interest. If Joker and Harley’s relationship doesn’t work out by the end of Joker: Folie à Deux, it’s possible that Harley will meet someone else, possibly a non-superpowered version of Poison Ivy, rendering Arthur Fleck more dangerous than ever before.