Ever since the late Heath Ledger’s Academy Award Winning portrayal of The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT, audiences have been wondering how long before Warner Bros. dust off the character for a brand new interpretation on the big screen. Of course, with Ledger giving such a fantastic and memorable performance in Christopher Nolan’s Batman sequel, the Clown Prince of Crime’s boots have never been bigger.
Now, Jared Leto is reportedly in the running to portray The Joker in David Ayer’s upcoming SUICIDE SQUAD adaptation. The character was not originally present in Justin Marks’ first draft of the screenplay, however David Ayer is said to be re-writing the script to include some more household names into the teams roster. Jesse Eisenberg is currently in negotiations to return as Lex Luthor in the supervillain team-up, and now it seems that Ayer has also added Batman’s archenemy to the mix. With Margot Robbie recently rumoured to be cast as Harley Quinn, it makes perfect sense for her lunatic lover to have some sort of presence in the film. This would be a fantastic way of setting up an eventual reunion between Ben Affleck’s Batman and The Joker in a future solo-outing for the new caped crusader. It has been rumoured for quite some time that Affleck’s Dark Knight will be a tortured and mentally-scarred recluse, after his former sidekick Robin met his demise at the hands of his twisted nemesis. This could potentially set up some very interesting narrative beats for the future of the DC cinematic universe, and I for one am incredibly excited at this prospect.
Leto reportedly wasn’t the studios first choice for the role (that would be the blockbuster immune Ryan Gosling), but after he missed out on Marvel Studios’ DOCTOR STRANGE…things have now changed. It is currently unknown if Leto’s involvement has reached the negotiation stage, but it would certainly be a great way for the talented star to follow-up his Oscar winning performance in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB earlier this year. Also, this will no doubt ignite discussion about whether or not a respectable amount of time has passed since THE DARK KNIGHT…
Either way, SUICIDE SQUAD is shaping up to be one of the most highly anticipated superhero films of the next few years.
Source: The Wrap
