Given all of the recent news about upcoming DC movies focused in part or whole on The Joker, fans might expect that Jared Leto is already preparing for his return to the role by sending Margot Robbie dead animals or just generally being insufferable to his co-stars. But even Leto seems a little unsure of what part he may be playing in the character’s future, according to a recent interview.
Viola Davis Understandably Wanted To Pepper Spray Jared Leto While Making ‘Suicide Squad’
Speaking to On Demand Entertainment at the launch for the new video game “Destiny 2,” Leto admitted that he didn’t know what was going on with Joker’s cinematic future since Warner Bros. announced plans for not one but two films focused on Batman’s greatest foe. “I’m a little confused too,” Leto told an interviewer who said she wasn’t sure what was going on with all of these Joker movies. “Yeah, there are a couple of things happening in the DC world.”
Leto first played the character in “Suicide Squad,” where he allegedly took his immersion in the role to lengths that his costars occasionally found objectionable – including Viola Davis claiming she wanted to pepper spray him. (Leto has since walked back his own claims that he sent his co-stars anal beads and used condoms.) In the same interview, he diplomatically observed that the role is perhaps too iconic for just one actor to play. “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,” he continued. “There are other films that are in development and I’m excited to see what comes from them.” He didn’t specify which of the films, if any, to which he was attached – the Harley Quinn and Joker project to be directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“Crazy Stupid Love”) or the Martin Scorsese-produced Joker origin story that Scorsese reportedly wants Leonardo DiCaprio to lead. But given the frequency with which Warner Bros. seems to change direction on its DC properties, it seems as likely that Leto would show in neither of them as both.