While the existence of two Clown Princes of Crime on the big screen could well lead to some confusion among casual filmgoers, Joker star Zazie Beetz has pointed out at least a couple of ways in which Joaquin Phoenix’s take on the Batman foe is distinct from the Jared Leto version.
At ACE Comic Con, the Deadpool 2 actress was asked whether Arthur Fleck will be sporting any facial tattoos, much like his equivalent in the DCEU. Beetz quickly dismissed this idea, before making a reference to the metal that Leto sported in his teeth throughout 2016’s Suicide Squad.
“No. And I haven’t seen any grillz up to this point.”
While the various set photos we’ve seen from Joker have already given us a strong indication that director Todd Phillips and his team have no intention of taking this route, it may still come as a relief to hear a little confirmation. The character’s design in Suicide Squad proved divisive at best, with even the film’s helmsman David Ayer recently admitting that the “Damaged” tattoo written across Leto’s forehead was “one step too far.”
In the two years since Ayer’s feature came out, the DCEU Joker has yet to make a return to screens, though Leto reportedly has multiple projects planned for the future, including his own spinoff with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. But while it was previously assumed that he’d also be back for Suicide Squad 2, this month’s announcement that James Gunn will be writing and possibly directing the project has left some fans speculating that this could mark Leto’s exit from the flick, due to the pair’s tense history.
With no release date set for Leto’s second DCEU entry, the actor’s reportedly none too pleased about this alternate universe Joker movie, but you just might find yourself preferring Phoenix’s less garish take on the villain when the film hits theaters on October 4th, 2019.