Earlier today it was reported that Leonardo DiCaprio is being eyed to play The Joker in the upcoming solo origin film that will be produced by Martin Scorsese.
While it’s hard to be disappointed with DiCaprio’s involvement, it does need to be pointed out that WB does already have another Oscar winning actor under contract playing the same character – and he’s reportedly not happy with these new plans.
Insiders say Jared Leto, the actor who portrayed the Clown Prince of Crime in last summer’s Suicide Squad and is slated to reprise the character not just for a sequel but for another spinoff movie (with DC villainess Harley Quinn), was caught off-guard by the plans. Leto is said to have made his displeasure with the notion of multiple Jokers known to his CAA agents, and rival agency WME has been using the concern to court him.
This is all pretty interesting, as the actor was just confirmed to re-appear in the upcoming Joker and Harley Quinn spin-off movie.
And Leto, just last week, he did say that he was returning to play the character:
“No, there’s so much hype and bullsh– about that, I think it’s just fun thing to talk about. Even when [Suicide Squad] came out, there was so much misrepresentation about what went down, about the method acting crap. It’s just that 90% of it was not even true. It just takes on a life of its own.
[Filming Suicide Squad] was an incredible experience, everyone was amazing. Margot Robbie [is] one of the nicest people and one of the best actresses I’ve ever worked with. I really loved working with her.
I thought the scenes we did together were some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a set before. But everything is great in that world and I’m really proud to be a part of it.”
Whatever happens, we’ll keep you posted.