News hit earlier today that Joker 2 is happening. That news may have been premature, as later reports said no talks have actually happened. But Todd Phillips may be gearing up to return to the world of DC's underbelly anyway with a completely different origin story.

It sounds like Joker 2 isn't moving forward just yet. But Todd Phillips may still be getting ready to make more DC villain origin movies after directing Joker. There seems to be conflicting reports as to whether or not any of this is officially happening or not. The director has not been shy when talking about a potential sequel and has said multiple times that Joker 2 would have to be a really special idea in order for it to work, but he has yet to speak out on the latest news.

While the Joker sequel might not be happening, it looks like Phillips may be in early negotiations to take on more origin stories for DC. Phillips reportedly pitched the idea to the studio, though it has not been revealed who the new villains would be. It should be said that there is a conflicting report stating that the meeting between Phillips and the studio never happened. The director has yet to address the stories, but one can imagine he will soon.

Joker turned the comic book genre on its head and many are going to try and replicate its success. The dark and twisted take is based in reality and something that has taken many by surprise. With that being said, it seems only natural that DC would want to try the experiment again with a new character, no matter how hard it will be to stand in the shadow of what Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix pulled off with Joker. It will be interesting to see what the studio decides to do and if Phillips remains on board.

Another thing that sets Joker apart from the rest of the pack is that it has no connections to the previous DCEU movies. The studio has been doing self-contained projects lately and they have found great success with Wonder Woman and Aquaman, along with the new take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Adding to the speculation is the fact that Joker is now the most profitable comic book movie in history. So, it's fitting that we're hearing whispers of something new coming from the same creative team.

Joker may even be a contended at the Academy Awards, which is pretty rare for the comic book movie. From the start, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix warned fans that the movie was not going to be what they were used to seeing and they delivered on that. The Clown Prince of Crime is one of the biggest villains of any genre in history, so trying to replicate the success with a new villain will be a pretty massive challenge. Hopefully Todd Phillips will reveal his future plans in the near future to end the speculation. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to break the DC Villain Origins story.