I threw out a bunch of prospective characters when we heard that Tom Hardy and Will Smith were circling roles in David Ayer's SUIDICE SQUAD, but I never imagined the flick would be where the latest incarnation of The Joker would make his debut.
Nevertheless, Jared Leto is in talks for a role in Ayer's adapatation, and the prevailing wisdom is that the role he's up for is that of Batman's nefarious archnemesis.
Apparently, this is the role WB and Ayer wanted Ryan Gosling for, but the actor's reservation to commit to a long-running franchise has shifted their focus to landing Leto. Interestingly enough, the report also purports that Leto really wanted to play DOCTOR STRANGE, but his star power was still not quite on the level of what Marvel was looking for, leaving him open for this ensemble.
The Joker wasn't in Justin Marks' original draft, but it seems that WB was dead set on including the character in Ayer's revisions. The IP is a prize possession, and it was only a matter of time before a new Clown Prince of Crime would appear in this cinematic DCU. I only hope that he fits organically into the existing narrative, and doesn't feel shoehorned in solely for name recognition like, say, Cumberbatch's "John Harrison" in STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS.
As for Leto as The Joker, I'm sure all of you have more to say about it than I do. I've already had three grade-A cinematic Jokers during my lifetime, and I don't expect Mr. Leto to sear the images of Nicholson, Hamill, or Ledger out of my mind. Like with Batfleck, I'm just hoping for the best.
Isn't it interesting that Ledger won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for THE DARK KNIGHT, and now a newly-minted Best Supporting Actor winner is up for the role? Funny how things work out these days...
SUICIDE SQUAD does bad things on August 5th, 2016.
