Joker Will Cameo In Birds Of Prey, But Jared Leto Isn’t Playing Him

Back in the winter, Forbes published an article with the headline “Why The Future Of DCEU Movies Looks Brighter Than Ever,” and amongst the various insights it gave us into the franchise was the hint that this future won’t bring us a whole lot of Jared Leto’s take on the Joker.

While explaining James Gunn’s plans for The Suicide Squad, the outlet wrote that the previously announced Joker and Harley film has “fallen by the wayside,” and ditto for Mr. J’s solo movie. Seeing as how it’s been forever since we’ve received a substantial update on either of those projects, folks weren’t exactly surprised to hear that.

But then some set photos from the currently in-production Birds of Prey got people talking as they seemingly featured the Joker, leading fans to wonder if perhaps Leto might return for a quick cameo. Well, we can now confirm that it was indeed the Clown Prince of Crime we saw in those pics, but it wasn’t the Suicide Squad star playing him.

Sources close to We Got This Covered have explained that Warner Bros. is using a stand-in actor for Mr. J’s cameo in the film, meaning we won’t see the character’s face. Kind of like what they did with Superman in Shazam! We’re unsure of how exactly he’ll factor into things, or how big this cameo will be, but if they’re using a stand-in, we can’t imagine it being very substantial.

Of course, just because it won’t be Leto playing the role in Birds of Prey that doesn’t mean he’s finished with the DCEU. It could just be that he’s tied up with something else at the moment – Morbius, maybe? – and wasn’t able to film the cameo. In any case, it’s interesting to learn that Joker will definitely be in the movie and as soon as we hear more on his role, we’ll be sure to let you know.