We’re Getting the Jared Leto Joker Movie Nobody Asked For

I wake up every morning thinking to myself, “What do I least want to see in the world?” The answer comes quickly: I never, ever want to witness a standalone Joker movie starring Jared Leto, yet here we are.

Compounding the confusion of Warner Bros’s previously announced plans for a Joker origin film from Todd Philips, which had blessedly nothing to do with Leto’s Joker, Variety reports that an additional LetoJoke film is being planned:

Sources tell Variety that Leto is set to star and exec produce an untitled standalone film, paving the way for future movies branching from “Suicide Squad.”

Plot details are currently unknown, but the studio’s idea is to expand on the world created by “Suicide Squad” and tie into future installments of that property. Warner Bros. already announced that Margot Robbie’s version of Harley Quinn would be getting her own movie with a “Birds of Prey” feature, and the next goal was setting up a film for Leto’s Joker.

Warner Bros. seems to have a profound misunderstanding of what many viewers want, as evidenced by films like Batman v. Superman and Justice League. Something like Suicide Squad can kind of stand on its own wobbly feet, but the big draw for that film was the concept of bad guys sort of doing good, and the debut of beloved characters like Robbie’s Harley Quinn. But if the depressing box office performance of Solo can teach studios anything, it’s that there may be a limit to how many spin-off stories people want to watch, even featuring popular characters and universes that they love. Warner Bros. appears to be doubling down anyway.

The Joker is a played out abusive character that I would be thrilled not to hear from again, save from Mark Hamill’s blessed lips. Jared Leto is a played out actor who takes himself far too seriously, who I would be thrilled to not see except on rewatches of My So-Called Life.

Giving Leto this star vehicle, which he will also produce, seems like a reward for the success of a movie that he basically had an extended cameo in. Should we discuss his insufferable “method” actor antics that saw him sending dead animals, “used” condoms, and other fun gifts to Suicide Squad castmates through the mail, because hahaha the Joker is such a jokester? When was the last time you went to go see a movie because the massive draw of Jared Leto’s magnetism was too much to resist?

“The Joker is somebody who doesn’t really respect things like personal space or boundaries,” Leto explained of his method “antics” back in the Suicide Squad days. Seems like exactly the last kind of character we should be promoting in 2018.

(via Variety, image: Warner Bros.)

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