'Joker 2' Ending & Major Twist Explained by Director: Who Plays Real Joker? Actor Revealed! (SPOILERS)

Joker: Folie a Deux features a twist ending that will completely change the way you look at the two movies in the franchise.

Joaquin Phoenix reprises his Oscar-winning role as Arthur Fleck in the new sequel, which was just released in theaters. Todd Phillips also returns as the writer-director of the film.

Fans and critics have both been panning the project, awarding it a “D” CinemaScore from audiences and a 32% rotten score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

So, what happens in the end? And what did Phillips have to say about it?

Keep reading to find out more…

Joker: Folie a Deux follows Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) and his murder trial, ending in his guilty conviction.

The final scene of the movie sees Arthur back in Arkham and clearly depressed after Lee broke up with him. He’s told that he has a visitor and as he makes his way down the hall, he’s followed by the “Young Inmate,” played by newcomer Connor Storrie.

The Inmate asks Arthur if he could tell him a joke. Arthur tells him to make it quick and the Inmate tells a story about a clown and a psychopath in a bar. The joke ends with the punchline, “I’ll get you what you f–king deserve.” As the Inmate says that line, he stabs Arthur in the abdomen over and over again.

While Arthur is bleeding out on the ground, the Young Inmate is manically laughing in the background and uses his knife to carve a smile into his face.

The real Joker all along was the Young Inmate and Arthur was just his inspiration.

Connor, the actor portraying the Young Inmate, is making his major film debut with this role. He was previously seen in one episode of Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things and the indie film Riley last year.

Todd Phillips explained the ending and the twist during an interview with IGN.

“One of the things that people never understood about the first movie was, ‘I don’t get it. He visits Bruce Wayne and he’s 30 years older than Bruce Wayne. What kind of geriatric Joker is going to fight in the future?’ I don’t know if you’ve ever saw the script of the first movie. The first film is called Joker. It’s not called The Joker, it’s called Joker,” Todd said.

He continued, “And the first film under the script always said ‘An origin story.’ Never said THE origin story. It was this idea that maybe this isn’t THE Joker. Maybe this is the inspiration for the Joker. So, in essence at the end of this movie, the thing you’re being left with is ‘Wait, what is that thing happening behind him? Is that the guy?’”

“The big thing with Arthur, Joaquin‘s version of Joker, our version of Joker, he’s not a criminal mastermind. It’s one of the things we’ve always said about him, even in the first movie. And if we never made a sequel, it was just like, think what you want about what this guy turns into, but it’s never any version of the Joker that we all grew up on. You know what I mean? That’s just not who Arthur is,” Todd added. “So, it’s kind of this idea of when somebody becomes an icon, and we put things on that person as a group, as a society, as a media, as whatever. We put things on that person that maybe they can’t live up to.”

Todd also spoke about the hope that Arthur had going into the final scene, possibly hoping that Lee would be visiting him.

“I think Arthur has found peace with the idea, with the struggle that it’s okay to be yourself. And that’s really what he’s always struggled with, you know what I mean? I like to think he died at peace in a way being himself. The kid says to him, ‘You want to hear a joke?’ And even though he thinks maybe it’s (Lee) downstairs. We don’t even know what’s downstairs, but that sort of optimism that Arthur has, that’s still in him. He’s like, ‘Well, yeah, okay, of course’ because he knows that feeling of wanting to make somebody laugh. So he gives the kid that moment, right?” he said.

Todd added, “Obviously it goes bad because, again, everything goes bad for Arthur, but I always think that’s such a beautiful moment where it’s like Arthur still has hope. I think Joaquin is so beautiful in that scene. It’s such a small nothing. I mean, beyond the death thing. That moment where he’s looking at the kid and he’s kind of giving the kid a polite laugh in the setup. He’s showing appreciation for the comedy and appreciation for putting yourself out there. You know what I mean? Something nobody ever did for him in the first movie in some ways.”

Only four actors from the first movie returned for the sequel.