I’ve said this two or three times now around these parts, so I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but of all the forthcoming DC Comics films Warner Bros. announced earlier this fall, the one that has me most intrigued is Suicide Squad, about a group of incarcerated supervillains who perform special ops missions for the government in exchange for favorable prison terms. While there’s no confirmation yet which characters will comprise the titular squad, or which actors will play them, The Wrap is reporting Jared Leto is now in talks to play The Joker in the David Ayer-directed project.
It was previously announced Warner Bros. was aggressively pursuing Ryan Gosling, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie, and Will Smith for roles in the film, and according to The Wrap, Gosling was actually the studio’s first choice to take on The Joker. However, it seems Gosling was hung up on the idea of signing a multi-film contract, prompting the studio to shift gears and find another actor to take on this new iteration of the infamous villain.
I would be surprised, however, to see Leto sign on, for the exact same reasons Gosling chose to pass on the project. Leto has taken on only a handful of roles since the early 2000s, including only two in the last 5 years between 2009’s Mr. Nobody and last year’s Dallas Buyers Club, the latter of which earned him an Oscar. Leto seems just as unlikely a choice as Gosling to play The Joker, if not more so, but if he chose to sign on I would be very interested to see what he does with the character.
The original version of the script, written by Justin Marks, didn’t include The Joker, but with Ayer reportedly taking a crack at another draft, The Wrap claims his latest revisions include the notorious villain, who was most recently (and most memorably) played by Heath Ledger in 2008’s The Dark Knight.
You may also remember, at the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice role as Lex Luthor for the film and this latest report suggests he is expected to do so, though any casting for the film remains unconfirmed.
Suicide Squad is set for an August 5, 2016.
