Joker 2: Why Harley Quinn Breaks Up With Joker – Explained

Why did Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn bid farewell to Arthur Fleck in Joker 2?

Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker and Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn called it quits by the end of Joker: Folie à Deux, but exactly why was not clear to all moviegoers.

The Joker and Harley Quinn have become one of the most famous romances in comics, and certainly the most iconic villainous pairing out there.

Folie à Deux introduces a totally different Harley Quinn played by singer Lady Gaga who becomes infatuated with the Joker, aka Arthur Fleck, after his murderous actions and the movement he started in the 2019 original movie.

Why Did Harley Quinn Break Up with Joker?

Warning – The rest of this article contains spoilers for Joker: Folie à Deux.

Throughout Joker: Folie à Deux, Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn consistently proves one thing – she is in love with the Joker, not Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck.

Between her love of chaos, the way she idolizes the Joker, and the sea of lies she tells Arthur, Harley makes it clear the Clown Prince of Crime is her true love.

This is only further proven when Arthur decides to represent himself as the Joker and Harley says, “You can do anything you want. You’re Joker.”

During his closing arguments in court towards the close of Joker 2, Arthur denounced the title of the Joker, much to the chagrin of Harley. The DC villain explained that the Joker was nothing more than fantasy and that he, Arthur, murdered those six people, prompting Harley to leave the court altogether.

Harley’s courtroom exit and displeasure at the speech clarified what fans knew from the beginning – she was in love with the Joker, not Arthur.

So, when Arthur reunites with Harley on the infamous steps in Joker 2‘s confusing ending, ready to run away together and start a new life after his courtroom escape, the femme fatale tells him, “All we had was the fantasy and you gave up.”

On top of breaking up with Arthur here, and abandoning their fantasy plans to run away together, Harley confirmed she was never pregnant either, despite what she told him at Arkham Asylum previously.

What Happened Next for Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn?

Director Todd Phillips has already bid farewell to DC and confirmed there will be no Joker 3 after the death of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck. This means will never know for certain what happened next for Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn.

Just before her final scene on the steps, Harley could be seen with a gun to her head while listening to a voicemail from Arthur, seemingly placing her on the brink of suicide after witnessing the death of her one true love – the Joker.

Having given Arthur closure on their relationship, perhaps she went on to follow through by ending her life afterward or maybe began another infatuation.

Phillips confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Phoenix’s character has “always been Arthur Fleck” and not “this idea that Gotham people put on him,” essentially confirming the real Joker is still to come.

Perhaps that real Joker who will one day face off with the Dark Knight is Connor Storrie’s Arkham Asylum inmate who killed Arthur at the end of the movie before carving the Clown Prince of Crime’s iconic smile into his face.

With the real Joker still to come, one has to wonder if Harley will simply form an obsession with the next person to take on the mantle, whether that be Arthur’s young killer on another Gothamite altogether.

Then again, this all hinges on the idea that death was not what came next for Harley after she visited the famous dancing steps. And if it did, maybe there would simply be someone else to take on her identity in the same vein as the Joker.

To throw an alternative perspective into the mix, some have suggested Harley died by suicide while listening to Arthur’s voicemail, and the one who offered him a goodbye was just another figment of his imagination.

Joker: Folie à Deux is playing now in theaters worldwide.