Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga dance in new images

Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips has shared new images from the forthcoming sequel to 2019’s Joker.

The sequel – which will reportedly musical elements – sees Joaquin Phoenix return as the titular villain, while Lady Gaga joins the franchise as Harley Quinn. The film will be released on October 4, 2024, the same date as the fifth anniversary of Joker.

• READ MORE: Joker review: a melancholic psychodrama punctuated by splashes of shocking violence

Phillips shared three new images on his Instagram account to mark Valentine’s Day, writing: “Hoping your day is full of love,” followed by the film’s release date.

The first image shows Gaga and Phoenix in full make-up and costume as they stand under a spotlight with nothing but darkness around them. The second, meanwhile, shows the pair romantically pressing their noses together through Joker’s prison bars. And finally, the last image shows them dancing together on a rooftop in what seemingly looks like a musical moment.

Gaga previously shared a preview of herself in the iconic role in April last year, as filming on Joker: Folie à Deux came to a close. “That’s a wrap X Harleen,” the singer and actor wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of her in a black dress and smudged black eye make-up.

The actor’s co-star Zazie Beetz previously spoke about the “musical elements” of the sequel, suggesting viewers will be “surprised” by them. Beetz will reprise her role of Sophie Dumond in the next instalment of the story.

“I think people will be surprised,” she told Variety. “I don’t think it’s going to be what they expect, around it being musical. We all sort of express musically and dancing in our lives day-to-day. I think it’s going to work really well.”

Last September, Hildur Guðnadóttir – who worked as the composer of the film’s score – also teased that the sequel will feature “a lot of music”. “That’s all I can give away,” she added.