For a very long time now, there’s been a bizarre Suicide Squad fan theory doing the rounds. It revolves around the idea that The Joker being played by Jared Leto is in reality Jason Todd, the Robin whose defaced costume was on display in the Batcave in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Honestly, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s an idea which has taken on a life of its own in recent months. There is some precedent for it in the comic books, as a sequel to The Dark Knight Returns featured Dick Grayson (the first Robin) going completely insane and coming back to haunt the Caped Crusader as the new Clown Prince of Crime. Jason, meanwhile, also took a villainous turn when he was resurrected as The Red Hood, a Punisher-like vigilante who attempted to take down Batman upon his return.
The theory has now been put to rest for good by Suicide Squad director David Ayer, as he had this to say when asked about Jason being The Joker in a recent interview.
“It ain’t the case! He’s not!”
The filmmaker also addressed reports that large chunks of the movie were reshot to add more humour, offering a solid argument for why that couldn’t have been the case.
“I don’t think you can do that. It’s like, what, you got a scene where they’re all cracking jokes and then you’re back in the old scene? It doesn’t work like that. The movie was always funny.”
It’s hard to pick holes in any of Ayer’s comments here, though it’s obviously going to be very interesting to see whether or not Suicide Squad addresses The Joker’s history with Robin in any way. After all, you have to believe that murdering Batman’s sidekick was one of his proudest moments, so here’s hoping we find out more come August 5th.
