The sequel to The Clown Prince of Crime could start filming next year. Since Todd Phillips’ Joker’s huge success in 2019, there have been whispers that the villainous origin narrative may have its own sequel. These reports have persisted, and the newest word from the rumor mill is that the sequel has taken a significant step ahead, with a possible start date set.

A Warner Bros. “insider” has claimed to Heroic Hollywood that the company has just gotten the first draft of the Joker 2 screenplay. There are also plans to begin filming in 2023. Given the lack of official confirmation, these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt for the time being. There’s no word on what the script will be like, but we can assume it will feature Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as Arthur Fleck.

The film was proposed and created as a one-off, with the hope that it would pave the way for additional DC characters to get their own films. There have been rumors that a Joker sequel is in the works at Warner Bros. for the past few years. Last year, it was believed that Phillips had signed on to write the sequel’s script, but neither the studio nor Phillips acknowledged this.

“I dunno… I mean, I dunno. From when we were shooting, we started to -you know, uhh, this is an interesting guy. There are some things we could do with this guy and could [explore] further. But as to whether we actually will? I don’t know,” Phoenix said.

Could be interesting.