The latest Joker news breaks into two unrelated stories: the DC film franchise after Joker: Folie à Deux, and the Joker malware family that keeps returning to Android phones. The sequel opened on October 4, 2024 to weak reviews and soft ticket sales, and no third film has been confirmed. On the security side, Joker trojan samples still appear inside apps on Google Play and third-party stores.
Updated Joker Official Webpage Guide
If a headline sent you searching, the film angle is the one you want. If the word showed up in a mobile security alert, the malware angle is. This guide covers both, plus the smaller Joker stories in comics, games, and poker that search results mix in.
Which Joker Do You Mean?
Three things carry the name Joker in headlines, and they share nothing but a label.
- Joker (film): Todd Phillips' 2019 movie, its 2024 sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, and any future DC appearance of the character.
- Joker (malware): an Android trojan family first spotted in 2017 that pushes victims into paid SMS services and steals contact data.
- Joker (card): the wild card in poker and casino coverage, including video slots built around the character.
Search engines blend all three, which is why the results look jumbled. Naming the topic in your query fixes that.
New Joker Release: The Ultimate Guide
Joker Movie News: Where the Franchise Stands
Joker: Folie à Deux brought Joaquin Phoenix back as Arthur Fleck and cast Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The budget ran near $200 million, and the film returned far less than the 2019 original. Warner Bros. framed it as a standalone story rather than the start of a trilogy.
Reviews landed in mixed to negative territory, and the musical format split the audience that liked the first film. A domestic opening near $38 million was well under the 2019 debut. The film reached the Max streaming service in December 2024, which is where most late viewers saw it.
How the First Film Compares
The 2019 Joker cost about $55 million and earned over $1 billion worldwide. Phoenix won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and Hildur Guðnadóttir won for Best Original Score. Those numbers set expectations the sequel could not match.
What Comes Next for the Character
DC Studios has announced no third Phoenix film. James Gunn's DC Universe is building a fresh slate, and no Joker casting for that timeline has been confirmed. Any real announcement would come from Warner Bros. Discovery or the DC Studios press channel.
Phoenix has said he would return only for a story he finds worthwhile. Treat rumors about a third film as unconfirmed until a studio statement appears.
Joker Malware News: The Trojan That Keeps Coming Back
Joker is not one virus but a family of Android malware that hides inside apps and runs billing fraud in the background. It enrolls the phone in premium SMS subscriptions, harvests contact lists, and drops extra payloads. Google has removed many infected apps from Play Store over the years, and new variants arrive in waves.
The pattern repeats. A developer uploads a clean-looking utility, an emoji keyboard or a wallpaper pack, then pushes a malicious update weeks later. Because the app passed review at upload, removal takes time.
Why Joker Persists
Malware authors reuse the same code and repackage it under new app names, so each takedown is a setback rather than an end. Premium SMS billing pays out in small amounts that victims often miss on a phone bill. That low-and-slow model keeps the family alive year after year.
How Joker Malware Reaches a Phone
- Sideloaded APK files from forums, chat groups, or third-party stores.
- Apps on Google Play or regional stores that turn malicious after an update.
- Fake "mod" builds of paid apps.
Signs a Phone May Carry Joker
- Small charges on the mobile bill or carrier account for services you never ordered.
- Battery drain and data use with no clear cause.
- Apps you do not recall installing, or SMS permission granted to a game or flashlight tool.
Removal means uninstalling the app that carries the payload, then running a mobile security scan. A factory reset clears cases that survive.
Other Joker Stories in the Mix
DC keeps publishing Joker titles in print, from ongoing series to one-shot specials, so comic news shows up under the same keyword. In games, the character appeared in the Batman: Arkham line and as a guest fighter in Mortal Kombat 11. Casino and poker sites use the name too, where a joker is any wild card.
How to Follow Joker News Without Wading Through Noise
- Pick your topic first. Film news lives on entertainment sites, malware news lives on security blogs.
- Add a year or a title to the query, such as "Joker 2 box office" or "Joker trojan 2025."
- Check the publish date. Malware write-ups from 2019 still rank well and describe code that has since changed.
- Trust studio statements and security vendor research over aggregator posts.
FAQ
Is there a third Joker movie?
No third film is confirmed. Warner Bros. and DC Studios have announced nothing beyond Folie à Deux.
Will the Joker appear in the new DC Universe?
Unconfirmed. DC Studios has not named an actor or a project for the character in the Gunn-era timeline.
Is the Joker malware still active?
Yes. Samples keep surfacing, though counts rise and fall by quarter. Mobile security vendors publish updated figures in their threat reports.
Where can I find official Joker movie news?
Warner Bros. press releases and the DC Studios social accounts post casting and release changes first. Trade papers such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter follow within hours.