Jared Leto To Play The Joker?

Big casting rumors hitting the net today. Apparently Oscar winner Jared Leto is eyeing up the role of The Joker in the new Warner Bros. film Suicide Squad.

Leto has become quite the talented actor, recently grabbing an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. Known for his method acting, he is said to stay in character throughout the entire shooting of films, even to the point of adversely affecting his health. Leto had recently expressed interest in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, but the studio wanted someone more well known to be the anchor point of their next step in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, known as ‘Phase 3’.

Leto would have some big shoes to fill if he takes on the role as the Clown Price of Crime. The Jester of Genocide (Joker has a lot of nicknames) has been most famously portrayed by four people: Cesar Romero in the 1960’s Batman television series, Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, Mark Hamill  in the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series, and finally Heath Ledger in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 The Dark Knight.

All of the previous four incarnations were fleshed out very differently: with Romero being comic, Nicholson being intelligent, Hamill being creepy, and Ledger being insane, it will be interesting to see the new direction Leto can take this character.

Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X, was announced recently along with Warner Bros. entire schedule planned up to 2020. They are a team of supervillains who are given the chance to redeem themselves by going on dangerous missions for the government. Several high profile villains from the DC universe have at one point or another been on the Suicide Squad, including Deadshot, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, and now apparently the Joker.

There have been quite a few casting rumors floating around since Warner Bros. announced their lineup, including such heavy weights as Will Smith, Tom Hardy, and Ryan Gosling. Nothing has yet to be confirmed. There is, however, one officially cast villain who may or may not make an appearance, Lex Luthor. Jesse Eisenberg was cast as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and with this new, shared universe, it’s perfectly plausible for Luthor to show up as a member of the Suicide Squad.

I would love the inclusion of the Joker in Suicide Squad, and think Jared Leto would be absolutely brilliant in the role. David Ayer is set to direct, and the film is expected to be released in 2016.

[Photo Credits: Huffington Post, TopTenz, Wikipedia]