Short answer: the Joker sequel is Joker: Folie à Deux, and it stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck and Lady Gaga as Harleen “Lee” Quinzel. Todd Phillips returns as director and co-writer. The supporting cast is where most people get stuck: Brendan Gleeson plays an Arkham State Hospital guard, Catherine Keener plays Arthur’s defense lawyer, and Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, Ken Leung, Jacob Lofland, Leigh Gill, and Zazie Beetz fill out the asylum and the courtroom. This guide sorts the cast by how much each performer actually matters on screen, flags who is returning from the 2019 film, and marks the names that are cameo-sized so you are not waiting on a scene that never arrives.
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How this cast list is organized
Three criteria decide the order below. First, billing: who is positioned as a lead in the marketing and the credits. Second, screen time: whether a name carries full scenes or a single sequence. Third, continuity: whether the actor is returning from the first Joker or arriving new. A recognizable face in a two-minute part is a different answer to “who is in it” than a co-lead, and mixing the two is how people end up disappointed.
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Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck / Joker
Phoenix is the anchor of the film and the one performance the sequel cannot function without. His Arthur is quieter and more institutionalized here than in the 2019 film, which shifts the energy onto the people around him.
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- Pro: He is in almost every major sequence, so the answer to “who is in the sequel” starts and ends with him.
- Pro: The role is a direct continuation of an Oscar-winning performance, so there is no recasting to track.
- Con: The version of Arthur on screen is more withdrawn, so viewers expecting the 2019 intensity may read it as underplaying.
Best for: anyone who came for the character study rather than the comic-book mythology.
Lady Gaga as Harleen “Lee” Quinzel
Gaga is the headline addition and the second lead. Her Lee is an Arkham patient who pulls Arthur toward performance, music, and fantasy, which is the structural reason the sequel plays differently from the first film.
- Pro: She gets top-tier billing and shares the film’s biggest set pieces with Phoenix.
- Pro: The musical numbers give her material no other cast member gets.
- Con: This is not a straight adaptation of the Harley Quinn you know from other films, so comic readers should adjust expectations.
Best for: viewers who want to see whether the sequel’s genre swing works.
Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener: the Arkham and legal core
Gleeson plays Jackie Sullivan, a guard at Arkham State Hospital, and Keener plays Maryanne Stewart, Arthur’s attorney. Together they carry most of the film’s non-musical dialogue.
- Pro: Both are substantial roles with recurring scenes, not walk-ons.
- Pro: They ground the courtroom and hospital material that frames the story.
- Con: Neither is a franchise character, so audiences hunting for Batman-adjacent names will not find them here.
Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, and the new supporting players
Coogan appears as a television host, and Lawtey plays a young district attorney in the Harvey Dent mold. Ken Leung plays an Arkham doctor, Jacob Lofland plays a fellow inmate, and Tim Dillon appears as a guard.
- Pro: These parts give the sequel its texture and its talk-show and trial scenes.
- Con: Several are limited to one or two sequences, so treat them as supporting turns rather than co-leads.
Returning faces from the first Joker
Zazie Beetz comes back as Sophie Dumond, and Leigh Gill returns as Gary Puddles. Sharon Washington reappears as the social worker Debra Kane, and Bill Smitrovich plays the presiding judge. Their screen time is brief by design.
- Pro: These returns tie the sequel to the 2019 film without resetting the story.
- Con: The appearances are short, so do not expect expanded roles.
Quick cast checklist
- Joaquin Phoenix — Arthur Fleck / Joker (lead)
- Lady Gaga — Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (lead)
- Brendan Gleeson — Jackie Sullivan, Arkham guard
- Catherine Keener — Maryanne Stewart, defense attorney
- Steve Coogan — Paddy Meyers, television host
- Harry Lawtey — young district attorney
- Ken Leung — Arkham physician
- Jacob Lofland — Arkham inmate
- Zazie Beetz — Sophie Dumond (returning)
- Leigh Gill — Gary Puddles (returning)
Which answer fits your reason for asking
If you are asking because you want to know whether the sequel is a two-hander, the answer is yes: Phoenix and Gaga dominate, and everyone else orbits them. If you are asking whether a specific actor from the first film came back, check the returning-faces section first, because the list is short. If you are asking about the wider Batman roster, the honest answer is that the sequel stays inside Arthur’s world and adds a district attorney rather than a costumed hero. Sort your question into one of those three buckets and the cast list stops being confusing.