Up until Jared Leto became a surprise addition to the cast of Zack Snyder’s Justice League reshoots, there was hardly any inkling that Warner Bros. and DC Films were interested in seeing the actor reprise his polarizing interpretation of the Joker. After all, Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips had led Arthur Fleck to over a billion dollars at the box office and awards season glory, while Birds of Prey seemed to write Leto’s Clown Prince of Crime out of the DCEU altogether.
However, from almost the second the Academy Award winner was announced for Justice League, the rumor mill exploded into life. The 49 year-old has since found himself linked to multiple projects either in development or otherwise, spanning movies and HBO Max exclusives. And the latest report claims that Leto and Zack Snyder are now developing a story for a solo Joker film together, although it’s said that it could end up as a TV series or even a graphic novel.
The Golden Globe nominated star of The Little Things is the latest in a long line of collaborators to heap praise on Snyder, but any potential future appearances from Leto’s Joker are presumably dependent on the reception to his cameo in Justice League. The response to the new images has been mixed to say the least, and if he fails to win over the skeptics the second time out, then there’s probably going to be a lot less interest from both fans and the studio in seeing him again.
Of course, we know better than to rule anything out in the DCEU given the events of the last year, and once the all-new Justice League hits HBO Max in a few weeks, we’ll no doubt have a much better idea of what’s in store for both the Joker and Snyder’s involvement, or lack thereof, in the DCEU once the dust settles.
