Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in cinemas on October 4, but early critics’ reviews are worse than the original film at just 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. Todd Phillip’s groundbreaking reimagining of the most dangerous villain in Gotham first arrived in theaters in 2019, outside of the larger DCEU. While the film delivered a compelling standalone story, the success of the project resulted in Warner Bro. Studios rushing to greenlight a sequel, and get Joaquin Phoenix back in makeup to expand the story of Arthur Fleck.

However, both the original and the upcoming sequel did not completely resonate with critics, as the scores for both on Rotten Tomatoes were largely mixed. While Joker earned a respectable, but still undeniably mediocre 69%, the sequel is now sitting at just 60% after critics have seen the film ahead of general release. While the original movie may have been challenging in its concepts, and resulted in mixed reviews, the sequel should have been in a much stronger position following the widespread success of Joker.