Did ‘Joker 2’ Just Reveal Its Biggest Twist With an Easter Egg?

The sequel to Todd Phillips’ acclaimed 2019 film Joker is quickly approaching its release date. Joker: 2 received its second trailer, and with it, more insight into the blossoming relationship between Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker and Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn.

Of course, Harley and Joker’s relationship is complicated, no matter the medium. Despite their trademark toxicity and chaos, their origin story as a couple remains relatively stable across comics, TV, and film. The Batman Adventures: Mad Love laid the foundation, which depicted psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel—a doctor eager to exploit Arkham Asylum’s residents for a tell-all book—falling under the romantic and manipulative spell of her patient, the Joker.

Interestingly, both Joker: Folie à Deux trailers depict Harley as a fellow Arkham Asylum patient, smitten and inspired by Joker’s anarchy in the previous movie. However, a sneaky Easter Egg may back up the popular theory that this version of Harley Quinn isn’t exactly what she seems.

Does ‘Joker 2’s Pepé Le Pew Easter egg foreshadow a twist?

At timestamp 0:58, Joker watches what appears to be the Pepé Le Pew cartoon from the ’40s before breaking into a love song. It’s a brief moment, but it may hold symbolic significance. In most episodes, Pepé Le Pew’s unwavering and (let’s just call it what it is) disturbing pursuit of romance sees him lusting after a black cat he mistakes as a fellow skunk because of a white stripe of paint on her tail. Pepé assumes the “fellow skunk” won’t be put off by his odor, but he’s mistaken, and the black cat frantically flees from him just like all his other love interests.

It might sound like a leap for an old Warner Bros. cartoon to hold so much significance, but movies don’t typically put things in the background that mean nothing. It’s possible that Pepé Le Pew is a clue about Joker’s relationship with Harley. Like Pepé, he might think she’s a fellow patient who will understand him, but in reality, she could be a psychiatrist masquerading as a patient to get close to Joker. Perhaps the storyline even riffs on The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, with Harley’s motivations to play patient fueled by the opportunity to get up close and personal with Joker for a tell-all exclusive.

The twist might fly a little close to Shutter Island, but it’s one fans wouldn’t be overly surprised by. Given Harley’s known origin story, many suspect there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Phillips’ take on the character. That said, Phillips has completely revamped what little is known about Joker, so he may do the same with what has become one of DC’s most notorious romances.