DCEU: Could Jared Leto return as the Joker?

Could there be more than one Clown Prince if Crime? Could we be seeing double the Joker in Walter Hamada and Warner Bros. DC Extended Universe?

Todd Phillips Joker has fans excited for an origin story no one saw coming. Joaquin Phoenix appears transformative in a role that he was born to play. But he’s not the first Joker in a recent DC film. That title belongs to one, Jared Leto who played the Clown Prince of Gotham in Suicide Squad.

Since Phoenix took on the role of Joker, fans started to think that Leto’s time was up. After all, Leto jumped ship to play Spider-Man’s villain, Morbius. However, according to an interview Leto did with Variety, he hasn’t lost interest in playing the Joker:

"“I would definitely play the Joker again… It all depends on the script and the circumstances as it always does.”"

It’s good to hear he hasn’t given up on the idea of returning. If he had, who could blame him? His depiction of the Joker in Suicide Squad wasn’t well received. Some complained it was his modernized look, which included grillz and a “Damaged” tattoo across his forehead. None of those were the issue.

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Suicide Squad’s script had the Joker as an ancillary character. It was as if he was merely a way to pander to Batman fans, since he was heavily featured in promos. Of course, there’s the infamous story about “studio interference.” Leto’s scenes were cut, and he didn’t hold back in expressing his displeasure. Thus, the Joker infamously became a glorified supporting character.

Fans didn’t get a chance to get invested into the character. That was the old DCEU. With Walter Hamada taking over, things are looking up. This new DCEU is off to hot start thanks to Aquaman and Shazam!. Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey is up next, and there’s a chance we could see Leto reprise his role.

As a matter of fact, there are some set photos of a Joker in Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey floating around. However, Leto is keeping his mouth closed. We’ll have to wait until Feb. 7, 2020 to see if Leto reprises his role one more time in Birds of Prey.

So could we see two Jokers in Warner Bros’ DC Universe — maybe more? After all, DC Comics revealed that there’s more than one Clown Prince Of Crime tormenting Batman. Maybe the DCEU adopts that approach.