James Gunn Directing Suicide Squad 2 May Mean Jared Leto Is Out As Joker

Being someone who lists the Joker as one of their favorite characters in all of fiction, you’d better believe that I’m pretty protective when it comes to seeing the Clown Prince of Crime being adapted. That said, you could imagine my displeasure upon having him portrayed the way he was in 2016’s Suicide Squad.

Admittedly, not all of the blame was to be placed on Jared Leto – though his performance didn’t resonate with me nearly as much as, say, those given by guys like Heath Ledger and Cameron Monaghan – because director David Ayer and the costuming department went a bit overboard by making the Ace of Knaves look like a heavily tattooed pimp.

Now, if indeed James Gunn is to write and direct the highly anticipated Suicide Squad 2, then it seems like Leto’s short tenure as the Man Who Laughs may already be over.

In a rather comprehensive and convincing piece compiled by Cosmic Book News, the site brings up how Gunn has a history of implying on social media – and supposedly flat-out stating in a deleted Periscope video –  that Leto sleeps with underage girls, so you can imagine how the actor/30 Seconds to Mars frontman would likely have no desire to work with his accuser.

Then again, Leto could continue on as the character if indeed that Joker and Harley movie ever comes to fruition, but my gut tells me he’s done. I mean, you have to imagine he isn’t too pleased about the Joaquin Phoenix Joker origin picture that’s currently in development, and then there’s the fact that he’s about to suit up as Morbius for Sony’s Marvel Universe.

To be honest, there’s no good reason to even include the Joker in Suicide Squad 2, aside from his involvement in the first flick. After all, he’s not one to spring to mind whenever Task Force X is mentioned, so why not allow for Gunn to focus on bringing in someone new such as Killer Frost?