Sequels take out a lot of the work in writing a fresh script too. There's already a base storyline to pull from. It's usually a lazy effort just riding the coat tails of it's predecessor's hype.
But that’s just it.
Not a soul asked for Joker 2.
Covid hit that fall of ‘19 and most people completely forgot about the film for a few years, or even film in general.
There was no hype.
Todd and Joaquin wanted to make this,
they weren’t pressured into it.
A director of his caliber doesn’t get to call the shots with WB and tell them to wait five years, regardless of how profitable the first one lucked out to be because of how truly awful Suicide Squad and ‘17 Justice League were. That’s the only reason his film was a success to the degree it was, it was a primal actor in a gritty rated R Joker film amongst goofy Affleck Batman and prison faced Leto.
WB had zero interest in continuing this story because it was never to fit in their timeline plans regarding DC at the time, which is why he was given the freedom over the character to the extent he was. This was basically WB saying his movie can pad our pockets while we figure out where we want DC to go and if it fails it isn’t tied to anything we’re actively working on building.
They did the same thing for Matt Reeves at the time for The Batman. Reeves’ Batman will never be the Batman for WB or DC.
It will always be an else world story.
Their focus is Gunn now.
WB let the kid take the dog for a walk,
car for a spin,
and it played in their favor first,
then bombed completely.
Phillips didn’t care how this sequel played out, he knew he was being shown the door once Gunn began his projects.
Just as he’s seen it happen to Snyder, David Ayer and all of the actors from that universe.
