Joker 2's Original Ending Took a Dark Knight Turn Until Christopher Nolan 'Killed' It

joker 2 original ending christopher nolan
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures | DC Studios | Joint Effort | Fair Use For Promotional and News Purposes

joker 2 original ending christopher nolan
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures | DC Studios | Joint Effort | Fair Use For Promotional and News Purposes

DC hates to break it to you, but the ever-divisive Joker 2 originally had a better ending planned. That is until The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan expressed his displeasure over it. Here's how Joker: Folie à Deux was supposed to end.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux, so proceed with caution.

The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan Was Not on Board with Joker 2's Original Ending

Prior to the premiere of Joker: Folie à Deux, an anonymous source had leaked the disappointing ending even DC fans couldn't believe was true.

Instead of having Arthur Fleck end his story, well, as the Joker, still, he still ends up with nothing. Not with "Lee" Quinn, and certainly not his legacy as one of Gotham's "villains."

The ending unfortunately turned out to be accurate as more fans went to see it on the big screens.

As Arthur Fleck gets stabbed with a knife, his cellmate, Ricky Meline (Jacob Lofland), is eventually revealed to be the Joker we have been waiting for all along.

While this led fans to leave the theaters out of disdain, did you know that the original ending for Joker 2 had better plans for Arthur Fleck?

joker 2 original ending christopher nolan
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Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures | DC Studios | Joint Effort | Fair Use For Promotional and News Purposes

According to a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter, the original ending supposedly had Arthur Fleck "carving up a smile on his face in front of his supporters" rather than Ricky.

Unfortunately, The Dark Knight filmmaker Christopher Nolan "killed that idea, believing that only his Joker (Heath Ledger) should carve his face."

That said, Ricky still managed to carve his face since Nolan was "no longer at the studio", which explains why "there was no resistance" to the idea at the time.

Still, this wouldn't contribute much to the sequel as it only echoed what happened at the end of the first Joker flick, with Arthur Fleck embracing his identity as the Clown Prince of Crime in Gotham.

READ NEXT: WB Exec Claims Joker 2 'Didn't Land' Because of Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn

In the meantime, Joker: Folie à Deux is still showing in theaters everywhere.

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