The sneak peek at Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix's big screen "bad romance" is here!
To celebrate Valentine's Day on Tuesday, Warner Brothers released the official First Look image of the two actors in Joker: Folie à Deux, the upcoming musical sequel to Todd Phillips's Oscar-winning 2019 film Joker.
Gaga first shared the photo on social media. The snapshot captures the musician-turned-actress and Phoenix in the moments after a passionate kiss, her red lipstick smudged all over his face.
In the film, Phoenix, 48, reprises his role as the legendary Batman villain while Gaga, 36, plays Harley Quinn (a.k.a. Dr. Harleen Quinzel), Joker's longtime henchwoman and love interest whom the sinister prankster first met when she served as his psychiatrist at Gotham City's Arkham Asylum.
The character was first created for the acclaimed 1992 Saturday morning cartoon Batman: The Animated Series and quickly became a fan favorite, jumping from the TV screen to the comic book pages. Margot Robbie brought the role to live action, playing Harley in 2016's Suicide Squad and its 2021 sequel The Suicide Squad, as well as the character's own spinoff movie, Birds of Prey (2020).
PEOPLE confirmed Gaga's involvement in the film — specifically, that she was in talks to play Harley Quinn — back in June 2022. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to share the news.
Gaga herself confirmed her casting in August, posting an animated teaser video that showed her and Phoenix's silhouettes dancing to old-timey music.
Along with the film's official title, Gaga shared the film's release date: Oct. 4, 2024.
Phillips's will direct the sequel once again. Plot details are still under wraps but Folie à Deux references a delusion or mental illness shared by two people, suggesting that Joker and Harley may be up to no good together.
As for Robbie, she's given Gaga her blessing for stepping into the role she debuted on the big screen.
"It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning, all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way Macbeth or Batman always gets passed from great actor to great actor," Robbie told MTV in October 2022.
She continued by saying that there is an opportunity for a performer to make an iconic role their own. "And I feel like in not so many cases are they female characters," she explained. "Queen Elizabeth I, but like beyond that — which I got to have a crack at as well, which I was honored to do. I was like, 'Wow, Cate Blanchett did Queen Elizabeth I. Now I get to.' "
Robbie, 32, added of Gaga: "It's such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters who other actors get to have a go at playing. And I think she'll do something incredible with it."
.jpg "See Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn for the First Time in 'Joker' Sequel Photo")
