James Gunn‘s plans for the Batman side of the DCU are shrouded in more mystery right now than the Dark Knight himself, standing in the shadows of a dimly lit Gotham alleyway on a particularly overcast night. Sure, a new Caped Crusader is definitely on the way, but the continuation of The Suicide Squad franchise suggests certain ties to the Batfleckverse will be carried over, hopefully in the shape of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.
This confusing approach is leaving some DC fans wondering what this means for the DCU’s Joker moving forward. As one Redditor asked on the r/DC_Cinematic sub, “if Harley stays as Margot and Batman is recast, will we get a recast Joker or he will stay the same [sic]?”
That sounds like a reasonable question at first, but here’s another way of thinking about it: will Gunn take the opportunity to jettison Jared Leto’s wildly unpopular Clown Prince of Crime or won’t he? Hmm, tough one…
Gunn previously had the opportunity to help redeem Leto’s villain in The Suicide Squad, after his DCEU debut in 2016’s Suicide Squad went awry, but instead he decided to steer well clear of the character, which was undoubtedly the right move. Given that, it seems highly likely that he won’t bother to invite the Morbius leading man back for his rebooted DCU. Especially as Leto’s comeback in Zack Snyder’s Justice League leaves him inextricably tied to the SnyderVerse, which Gunn is keen to move away from.
Considering Batman looks set to be older in The Brave and the Bold, which will depict him as a father to the pre-teen Damien Wayne, that may mean we’ll get an older Joker too. Is it finally time for Willem Dafoe to claim the role? We can always dream…