Jared Leto reportedly had trouble putting on a happy face when hearing about the new
Joker movie.
According to a story published by The Hollywood Reporter detailing how former Joker producer
Martin Scorsese may have contributed to the film after dropping his producing credit,
Jared Leto who played the Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad was none too pleased about studio
Warner Bros. moving forward with the Joker origin story film starring Joaquin Phoenix.
Reportedly, Leto was left feeling out in the cold when former Warner Bros. president Kevin
Tsujihara and current studio chief Toby Emmerich decided to give the project the greenlight.
Emmerich is said to have, quote, "loved the script" that Phillips co-wrote with Academy
Award-nominated screenwriter Scott Silver, though he did reportedly feel that the gritty
nature of the story might fit better outside of the standard DC Extended Universe, of which
Suicide Squad is a part.
Nonetheless, Emmerich was taken with Joker, as was Tsujihara, and the rest is history.
Neither Leto nor any representatives of his have come forward to confirm or deny the claim
that he was hurt over the Phoenix-led Joker, but the actor's purported reaction to hearing
the news of the project getting the greenlight may be accurate given past Joker-related events.
As fans know, Leto's Joker didn't have nearly as prominent a role in Suicide Squad as expected.
His involvement essentially amounted to an extended cameo rather than a starring part,
which left audiences and Leto disappointed and confused.
"Oh, I'm not gonna kill ya.
I'm just gonna hurt ya — really, really bad."
Director David Ayer even admitted that he should have included more of Leto's Joker
in the film.
In an open letter published in January 2017, Ayer wrote:
"Wish I had a time machine.
I'd make Joker the main villain and engineer a more grounded story.
I have to take the good and bad and learn from it."
That considered, one can easily see how Leto may have felt alienated and upset when Warner
Bros. chose to go ahead with Phillips and Phoenix's Joker movie, the idea for which
Phillips pitched to Warner Bros. in August 2016, the same month that Suicide Squad opened
in theaters.
Learning one year later that a different actor would get the chance to play the Joker in
his very own solo movie very well might have crushed Leto's spirits even if Warner Bros.
executives emphasized that the project wouldn't be the end of Leto's Joker.
Shortly after Warner Bros. and DC Films made the announcement about the Joker standalone
film, The Hollywood Reporter ran a piece noting that Leto made sure his agents knew he wasn't
happy with the idea of multiple, competing Jokers.
Leto later told On Demand Entertainment that he was, quote, "a little confused" about the
future plans for the Joker which, at the time, included a spin-off movie featuring his Joker
and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn.
However, he maintained a level head.
He admitted:
"I love the Joker.
He's a great character and really fun character to play.
But it's a big universe and when you play the Joker, there's no ownership there.
You have the honor of holding the baton for a little while and then passing it off.
There are other films that are in development and I'm excited to see what comes from them."
"Are you sweet-talking me?
Ah hah hah."
Leto's disposition likely turned sunny in June 2018, when it was reported that Warner
Bros. was developing a standalone Joker movie featuring Leto's iteration of the infamous
DC Comics villain.
The project, which Leto was also set to be credited on as an executive producer, was
apparently intended to be the first of several Suicide Squad off-shoots.
Unfortunately, it appears that both the Joker-Harley Quinn spin-off film and the Joker solo flick
starring Leto have since been scrapped.
In February 2019, Forbes ran a piece noting that both projects had, quote, "fallen by
the wayside" at Warner Bros.
As of October 2019, we don't know for certain what the future holds for Leto's Joker.
The easiest bet is that he could appear in James Gunn's upcoming sequel-slash-reboot
The Suicide Squad, which features a mix of returning characters and fresh faces.
There's been no formal announcement about his possible involvement, though, so it's
a toss-up whether or not Leto will grace the silver screen and flash Joker's silver teeth
in 2021's The Suicide Squad.
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