Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531774
5 2 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5 When Todd called about the first Joker, I demurred. I had once been excited to design The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the most expensive film to be shot in NYC. Though by the end, I'd had enough of blowing the sets up and considered that the comics might not be for me. After reading Todd's script, I saw that Joker was not a comic story, but rather an independent feeling film that depicts how one mentally ill person, rebelling against their abject helplessness, ignites a collective rage and poses the question: "What happens when the forgotten remember?" How surprised and honestly amazed we were when Joker succeeded. Years went by without mentioning a sequel until… Todd called me about Joker: Folie à Deux. As curious as I was, I was dubious once again. Intuitively, I felt that a great deal of the raw nerve Joker touched came from how powerfully it connected to the specific historic moment it was released into. However, as Todd shared the new idea, my mind began to blaze. Todd described a musical-ish with Gaga as Lee, building Arkham, the fantasies, and the courtroom drama. Bernie Goetz and the impact of the first TV trials. A continued take on the dysfunctional institutions of our mutual childhoods. Musical at the asylum? Before he was done, I was hooked. He and Scott Silver had figured out how to continue Arthur's story without selling it out. A Big Giant Swing, which is what Todd Phillips does. And why he's so compelling to work with. J o k e r : F o l i e à D e u x A M U S I C A L - I S H R O M P I N G O T H A M B Y M A R K F R I E D B E R G , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R A