Providing you haven’t been living under a rock since Friday, chances are you’ve caught wind of Warner Bros.’ tentative plans to cast Leonardo DiCaprio as The Joker. And it all centers around legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
The Oscar-winner and frequent DiCaprio collaborator has entered talks to produce a “super dark” origin movie involving the Clown Prince of Crime, and though early rumors pointed to a much younger rendition of the DC mega-villain, we still have no word on who the studio may be targeting for the role, but it would seem that Jared Leto, who already plays the iconic villain in the DCEU, is none too pleased about this new take on the character.
As we know, Leto, who’s reaffirmed his commitment to both Suicide Squad 2 and David Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens, voiced his displeasure from the off, and reportedly took issue with the “notion of multiple Jokers” existing simultaneously – regardless of whether they’re situated within the DC Extended Universe, or not. Displeasure isn’t the only thing that he’s feeling, though, as the actor is also a bit confused about what’s going on.
Speaking at a recent launch event for Destiny 2, here’s what he had to say when asked if he’s still going to be playing the character in the upcoming Joker and Harley Quinn spinoff:
“Yeah, I think so [that they’re both being developed]. I’m a little confused too. Yeah, there are a couple of things happening in the DC world.”
Continuing on, Leto then backtracked on his previous comments about being displeased with there being another version of the Clown Prince of Crime now, saying that he’s excited to see what comes from the origin film.
“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.”
We completely understand Leto’s frustrations here, as this announcement did seemingly come out of nowhere and has left a lot of people scratching their head. Make no mistake about it, Warner’s decision to launch a new and as-yet-untitled DC banner independent of the DCEU was always going to result in logistical headaches, but it’ll definitely be fascinating to watch how the situation unfolds.
The Joker origin film is currently without a release window at this time, but those pining for more of the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman can look forward to the release of Blade Runner 2049 in October.