Chris Nolan Reportedly Rejected Gory Joker Ending

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Griff Griffin | Last updated Oct 8, 2024 2:00 PM ET

The original ending of 2019’s Joker was apparently going to make a heavy reference to The Dark Knight. We didn’t get to see it, however, because The Dark Knight’s director Chris Nolan vetoed it.

In a report by THR , it’s stated Joker’s script ended with lead actor Joaquin Phoenix standing in front of a crowd of supporters and carving a bloody smile into his face. “Christopher Nolan killed that idea,” writes THR, “believing that only his Joker (Heath Ledger) should carve his face.”

The idea resurfaces in Joker: Folie à Deux because Nolan is no longer at the studio, which means there’s no resistance to it. Whether there should have been is a different matter entirely.

Warner Bros.

The sequel to Joker is massively underperforming at the box office. In its domestic opening weekend, it’s actually made less than Morbius, which itself was a cinematic bomb. It’s taking a critical lashing, too, with Joker: Folie à Deux rated just 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score is even worse at 31%.

The consensus is this is a failure of a movie. We said in our Joker Folie à Deux review Joker 2 is the very thing it is trying to reject. That makes the chances of Joker 3 incredibly unlikely - which, for a lot of people, sounds like a good thing.

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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