Watch Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix lock lips in lock-up in haunting Joker: Folie à Deux preview (exclusive)

Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn plants an ace of a kiss on Joaquin Phoenix's Joker in Entertainment Weekly's exclusive new preview of the upcoming sequel Joker: Folie à Deux.

The clip (above) begins as Harleen "Lee" Quinzel (Gaga) approaches her lover, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), the struggling clown who transformed into the titular Joker across director Todd Phillips' 2019 blockbuster, while he's detained inside a jail cell. A crowd of roaring supporters can be heard in the distance, as Harleen pushes her body into the bars that hold Arthur back, and the two passionately kiss as a guard yells "Hey, no touching!" down the corridor.

"I'm so f---ing proud of you. You should see it out there. They're all going crazy for you," Harleen tells Arthur, referencing the crowd outside. "You did it."

Arthur holds a beat before suggesting he should read "a law book or something" — pretending to hold his tie like a noose — before the conclusion of his trial, which the film chronicles after Joker went on a violent spree across Gotham City.

Harleen takes a long pause before reassuring him: "You can do anything you want," she says, staring him down. "You're Joker."

The clip previews Gaga's singular take on the famed DC Comics villain, after the first official audio released from Joker: Folie à Deux earlier this year confirmed that Gaga wouldn't fall in line with traditional portrayals of the villainous character, who often sports a heavy Brooklyn accent — notably by Batman: The Animated Series voice actress Arleen Sorkin. Sorkin originated the character for her official DC debut in the TV show as Joker's love interest before Harley formally jumped to the comic book universe in 1999, preceding the likes of Margot Robbie (who continued the trend with her bold interpretation in the DC Extended Universe's live-action projects, the Suicide Squad films and Birds of Prey) and Kaley Cuoco (who also voices Harley with an accent in the Max animated series Harley Quinn).

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Joker: Folie à Deux distributor Warner Bros. also recently unveiled a first look at the film's portrayal of Harvey Dent, with Industry actor Harry Lawtey bringing the DC Comics character (and iconic Gotham City D.A. who transforms into the villainous Two-Face) to life in a new teaser.

The Joker sequel follows Phoenix's societal outcast after his bloody reign of terror that landed him in Arkham Asylum. The movie's trailer previewed a similarly violent excursion fronted by Harley and Joker, as they team up to terrorize Gotham — with a little razzle-dazzle and spirited musical numbers performed along the way. Phillips explained the new movie's musical tone at CinemaCon earlier this year, telling the audience that "it's a film where music is an essential element" that "doesn't veer too far from the first film" in that aspect.

"Arthur [Fleck]'s weird and aloof and all these things, but he has music in him. He has a grace to him. That informed a lot of the dancing in the first film," he said. "It didn't feel like that big of a step here. It's different, but I think it'll make sense when you see it."

Joker: Folie à Deux — also starring Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Steve Coogan — is in theaters on Oct. 4. Watch EW's exclusive new preview above.