Jared Leto says he would be willing to once again play the Joker in the DC Extended Universe — provided Warner Bros. Pictures asks him to, that is.
During an interview with Variety, Leto said he would indeed be open to returning to the role of the Clown Prince of Crime, should the powers that be give him a call. “Never say never,” he said.
Leto first portrayed the Joker in writer-director David Ayer’s 2016 DCEU film Suicide Squad, though the limited amount of screentime the iconic Batman villain had in the final cut was apparently a far cry from what Ayer originally had in mind. Nevertheless, Leto ultimately reprised the role in 2021 film Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the HBO Max-exclusive director’s cut of the 2017 DCEU film Justice League. Leto’s turn as the Joker in Snyder’s film was rather brief, however, as he only appears in the epilogue.
Leto is one of multiple actors to play the Clown Prince of Crime in a live-action feature film, with the proverbial comedy club also including the likes of Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix and, most recently, Barry Keoghan. Leto’s version of the character stands out from the pack thanks to his tattoos and grillz, which were rather controversial design choices at the time of Suicide Squad‘s release — and were not featured in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which gave the Joker a redesign.
Currently, Leto is making the jump from DC to Marvel. The actor stars as main protagonist Dr. Michael Morbius (aka Morbius the Living Vampire) in Sony Pictures’ upcoming Spider-Man spinoff film Morbius, which is set for release on April 1. In the Marvel comic books, Morbius started off as a Spider-Main villain, though later evolved into an anti-hero in his own right.
Leto made headlines for the method acting he did to get into character as the Joker in Suicide Squad. Evidently, he’s committing just as hard to his role as the Marvel vampire. “I got scared for Jared,” Morbius director Daniel Espinosa said in the same Variety interview. “He really commits. You have to watch out for it.” Regarding a scene in which Leto’s Morbius shatters glass, Espinosa added, “I could sense the crew backed off. It was a bit spooky.”
See the former Joker actor’s next major comic book role in Morbius, in theaters April 1.
Source: Variety
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