Six years after Heath Ledger gave us one of the most memorable villains in recent movie memory with his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, someone else may be ready to play Batman’s grinning arch-enemy. However, the catch is that this won’t be a Batman movie.
According to The Wrap’s Jeff Sneider, Academy Award winner Jared Leto is “circling” a role in Warner Brothers’ Suicide Squad, which would team up several DC Comics supervillains. The premise is that the government offers criminals a chance at having their records and prison sentences eliminated in exchange for participating in dangerous special operations that will probably kill them.
David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch) is writing and directing the film, and apparently wants to add some more supervillain star power as he revises the script. There have also been reports that Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor is being added to the story, and that Jesse Eisenberg — who’s playing Luthor in Batman v. Superman — is joining the cast.
Sneider also writes that Ryan Gosling was initially interested in the Joker role, but balked at signing a contract for multiple films. But Leto might be a better fit, judging by the wide variety of roles he’s taken during his career.
If he signs on, Leto would join Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) in the Suicide Squad cast. As reported by Collider, Robbie has agreed to play Harley Quinn, Joker’s partner in crime previously seen in cartoons, comic books and video games. Warner Brothers is also pursuing Will Smith and Tom Hardy for roles in the Aug. 5, 2016 release.
[The Wrap]
