Warner Bros. Exec Partly Blames Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn Casting for Joker: Folie à Deux Failure

The disaster of Joker: Folie a Deux is starting to see some fallout, and not just in the form of its terrible reviews and hugely disappointing box office. In a new interview, Warner Bros.’ President of Domestic Distribution Jeff Goldstein reacted to the catastrophic demise of what had been one of the most anticipated movies of the year – and appeared to lay the blame partly on the casting of its Harley Quinn.

The sequel to 2019’s $1 billion masterpiece brings Joaquin Phoenix back to the big screen as Arthur Fleck, a man who, for all intents and purposes, is the Joker of the world created by director Todd Phillips – well…for most of the story anyway. In his second outing, Phoenix’s damaged character is joined by a version of Harley Quinn played by eccentric singer – and Oscar-winner – Lady Gaga in what seemed to be an inspired casting choice.

However, Goldstein briefly shared his thoughts on the disastrous debut of Joker: Folie à Deux while speaking with the Wall Street Journal. Admitting that the film had failed to live up to the box office potential the studio had hoped for – something that is very hard to try and deny – Goldstein noted that he feels the “core male audience” that made the first movie a huge success, struggled to connect with Gaga’s take on the ever-popular Harley Quinn. He added, somewhat unnecessarily:

The movie didn’t land with audiences the way we wanted it to.

Did Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn Ruin Joker: Folie à Deux?

The answer to the question of what went wrong with Joker: Folie à Deux is not one that can be answered in simple terms, as there are just too many parts of the film that failed to live up to expectations. Gaga actually received high praise from critics, even though they hated pretty much everything else about the film. However, if Goldstein is correct, and something about Gaga’s “Harleen Quinzel aka Lee” just didn’t fit what the audience was looking for, then that could be more to do with a much more famous version of the Joker’s love interest than with Gaga herself.

Margot Robbie, prior to becoming the perfect “stereotypical” Barbie, has played Harley Quinn on screen more times than any other actress – discounting animated appearances by other stars such as Kaley Cuoco. Making her debut in 2016’s Suicide Squad, and reprising the role in Birds of Prey and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, Robbie’s charmingly bonkers take on DC’s blonde bombshell with a love of causing havoc is quite something to live up to.

Although there could well be a little bit of an unfair comparison going on between these two takes on Harley Quinn, that in itself is not the only reason Joker: Folie à Deux is now staring down the barrel of a gun that doesn’t come with a comical red flag with the word “Bang” written on it. From the incredibly divisive musical elements, to the final twist that practically undoes everything the original movie delivered, there are many reasons audiences and critics have very quickly added this to their list of most disappointing sequels ever.