In a strong contender for most unexpected superhero news of the week, Joker 2 is reportedly set to be a musical, with Lady Gaga potentially playing Harley Quinn to Joaquin Phoenix’s Clown Prince. The internet has been roasting the idea of a comic book film going down the musical route, but actually, it’s worth remembering that Joker 2 wouldn’t be the first DC musical ever. Arrowverse fans will recall that The Flash had a musical episode back in season three. And it was surprisingly great.
Titled “Duet”, this 2017 crossover episode saw Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Supergirl‘s Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) find themselves in a dream world modelled after classic movie musicals — particularly West Side Story. Without their powers, the pair must follow the deliberately cliched plot’s path and avoid death by gangsters in order to return to the real world.
As there’s been so much Flash since this episode aired — the show’s now coming up to season nine — most completely forgot it existed. But one viral tweet has got folks singing its praises again. As Twitter user @OSthatguy colorfully put it, “mfs be complaining about Joker 2 being a musical like this ain’t the best episode of The Flash since S2.”
It’s not often thought of as one of the best Flash episodes, but it is.
Sure, it’s not the most dramatic, but few episodes are more fun.
You can’t deny they killed it with this one.
It’s a tragedy the Arrowverse didn’t bring Gustin and Benoist together more often.
Not only were Gustin and Benoist Glee veterans, but Darrin Criss guest-starred in the ep, too, as villain the Music Meister.
The two original songs in the soundtrack — romantic ballad “Runnin’ Home to You” (from La La Land‘s Justin Paul and Benj Pasek) and the comedic “Super Friend” (written by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s Rachel Bloom) — were genuine bangers.
Not to mention Benoist’s “Moon River” cover.
Others admit “Duet” was epic, but they’re still hesitant to go for a feature-length comic book musical.
To be fair, a Joker musical is a much taller ask than a Flash musical, as the latter show is already pretty campy and light-hearted so it didn’t break the bank by having its characters burst into song. The grounded and gritty Jokerverse, however, might not be able to withstand such a bold new take. But we’ll just have to see how that develops. In the meantime, The Flash season eight airs new episodes Wednesdays on The CW.