Lady Gaga & Joaquin Phoenix ‘Give the People What They Want’ in Darkly Chaotic ‘Joker’ Trailer: Watch

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix live for the applause in Warner Bros’ first full-length Joker: Folie À Deux trailer, which arrived Tuesday (July 23).

In the nearly three-minute teaser, viewers find Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck institutionalized as he awaits trial for crimes he committed as the Joker. While there, he meets Quinn, and the pair embark on a whimsical and darkly chaotic musical journey that leaves viewers wondering what’s real and what’s imagined.

“When I first saw Joker — when I saw you — for once in my life, I didn’t feel so alone anymore,” Gaga says in a voice-over as she breaks through the glass of a store’s display window to steal a TV airing footage of Fleck in a jail cell.

The video then cuts to clips of mobs swarming a courthouse to protest the Joker’s imprisonment, and Fleck, fueled by the public’s support, defending himself in court. All the while, he and Quinn waltz to Frank Sinatra’s eerily cheerful “When You’re Smiling” in both glamorous outfits and tattered clothes. The end culminates in the two characters hosting a 1960s-esque variety show, both wearing their signature clown face paint.

“I got the sneaking suspicion we’re not giving the people what they want,” Joker says into an old-fashioned microphone, to which Quinn replies, “It’s OK, baby — let’s give the people what they want.”

The 13-time Grammy winner was first confirmed to star in Folie À Deux — which serves as a sequel to 2019’s Joker — in August 2022. The following April, photos surfaced of Gaga in her creepy costume filming musical scenes in New York City.

The trailer arrives one day after Gaga was spotted in Paris, fueling rumors that she’s performing at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony. She’s also in the process of working on new music, having recently shared photos from the studio captioned, “Happy as ever making music … feel so grateful, heart is peaceful. It’s like meditation. I can’t wait for you to hear what I’m working on.”

Watch the new Joker: Folie À Deux, arriving in theaters Oct. 4, above.