The character of Joker is one of the most iconic film roles of all-time. Each actor to take on the part has put their own creative spin on it and picking a favorite performance among all of the all-time great iterations of the villain is a difficult task. Very few, however, would pick Jared Leto’s portrayal in Suicide Squad. Even the Academy Award winner himself has admitted that he hasn’t seen the movie.
That being said, he apparently still felt alienated and upset when he heard about the new Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix. Leto seems to really want to play the character again, but it looks like he might not ever get the chance. Despite the massive financial success of the movie, fans and critics alike ripped apart the actor’s bizarre take on the bad guy in Suicide Squad and all future plans that Warner Bros. had for Leto were quickly put on hold following the backlash.
Now, it seems that he’ll no longer be reprising his role for Margot Robbie’s upcoming Harley Quinn flick Birds of Prey, nor in James Gunn’s sequel to Suicide Squad. While both of these omissions have to sting, it sounds like Joaquin Phoenix’s standalone Joker origin story may have hurt Leto the most.
The reaction to Phoenix’s portrayal is everything his predecessor could’ve only dreamed he would receive. The three-time Oscar nominee looks like he may have a chance to walk away with the gold for the first time in his career and the extremely violent feature is earning the 40-year-old all of the praise that Leto’s interpretation never received. It’s therefore easy to understand why the latter feels left out. Maybe one day he’ll be able to get another crack at the Joker, but for right now, all of Hollywood is too busy gushing over the performance of the year to pay too much attention to the disgruntled fading star.