Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips has been bombarded with harassment after the backlash to his recent DC blockbuster.
The 2023 musical sequel currently holds a meager 33% rating from critics and 31% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, not to mention its record-breaking "D" CinemaScore - the worst ever for a comic book movie.
Joker 2's Todd Phillips Receives Massive Backlash
As director Todd Phillips shared photos on Instagram from the UK premiere of Joker 2 alongside stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, the filmmaker faced harassment in the comments section.
For one, user Oceanadelolympus exclaimed, "Wtf is wrong with you? You ruined one of my favorite films," implying Joker 2 retroactively hurt the first movie.
Similarly, Warneum shared their wish that they "had never watched this crappy sequel" as it "ruined people's memories of the first film."
Giving a more specific criticism, Design_by_igor_m stated, "The second part of Joker is an insult to the fans" and called it "a disastrous movie."
Amongst the more specific criticism, there were plenty of generic insults, calling Folie à Deux "bad," "trash," "s***," or a "f*** you to fans."
While moviegoers may currently be at Phillips' throat, one fellow filmmaker has come to his aid. Director Francis Ford Coppola (who helmed this year's widely-panned Megalopolis) stated on Instagram that the directors' films "always amaze [him]" and he is "always one step ahead of the audience."
Even though Phillips' comment section, some fans have defended the movie, such as Edictorey who said that the people hating Joker 2 "only wanted and cared for the Joker" while "no one cared about the REAL Arthur:"
"People hating it cause this society (like the movie shows) only wanted and cared for the joker but got what they deserved, the end of him. No one cared about the REAL Arthur, everyone only cared about the idea they created of him, he never was the Joker, society created the joker out of criminal idolization."
They added that "people hate [Joker 2] for the reason it should actually be acclaimed for" before ending off with a "great job Todd:"
"People hate it for the reason it should actually be acclaimed for. It shows people don’t care about someone else’s actual feelings, just how they can benefit from it or just to make fun out of someone else’s struggles. You did a great job Todd!"
Can Todd Phillips Bounce Back After Joker 2 Disaster?
Todd Phillips struck gold with Joker as it removed him from his days of helming The Hangover and other raunchy comedies in favor of a mature character exploration of an iconic DC character with a deep message about society.
Despite the agreement of most that Joker never needed a sequel and its ambiguous ending was enough, its billion-dollar box office and record place as the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever (at the time) was bound to force a follow-up.
Several major factors led to the Joker: Folie à Deux backlash, not least of which was how, by all accounts, a sequel was never meant to happen.
While Folie à Deux may have received overwhelming criticism, fans of Phillips' work can only hope he will power through the hate, turn a corner, and return to theaters with another win in a few years.
That said, the filmmaker has already confirmed he is done with DC as he told The Hollywood Reporter that his "time in the DC Universe was these two films," seemingly ruling out a directing gig in James Gunn's new reboot.
Joker: Folie à Deux is playing now in theaters worldwide.
