Film

Jared Leto Fails To Read The Room, Announces New Joker Film

Everyone is justifiably roasting the announcement.

by Jared Richards  6 June 2018
The Joker

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In news that only Jared Leto wants, Jared Leto is set to reprise his role as The Joker in a new Suicide Squad spin-off.

As Variety reports, Leto will star in and executive produce the film, which is part of DC’s plan to expand its own universe to catch up with Marvel’s successes. Not a lot of details are known yet, such as where it’ll sit with Suicide Squad 2, which is still in pre-production — but what we do know is already a bit of a mess.

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In case you need reminding, Leto’s role in Suicide Squad was panned. Pre-release, it was revealed the actor went method to explore the darkest sides of the Batman villain, in the vein of Heath Ledger. Apparently, this required Leto to send his fellow actors a pig’s head and used condoms, among other things.

Then, when the film came out, Leto’s character had been more-or-less edited out of it. The Joker appeared on-screen for seven minutes — and the seven minutes he did appear weren’t great.

In our own review, we called Leto “coldly lecherous and uncharismatic”, which is still kinder than the roasting currently underway on Twitter.

Then there’s the confusing fact that DC announced a different Joker film last year. It was presented as an origin story that would star Joaquin Phoenix. If that seems confusing, DC views the two as separate — the Phoenix film is part of an ‘origin universe’ series that would see different actors play the same roles at the same time.

Then again, DC isn’t exactly known for making sensible decisions.