On the big screen, the Joker is a character that has led some of his portrayers to massive stardom and others to immediate ruin. There are three actors in the role across three film continuities, Joaquin Phoenix, Barry Keoghan, and Jared Leto. Unfortunately, the worst of the three and the worst supervillain performance of the modern age is still the official Clown Prince of the DCEU.
The big cinematic universes have had pretty good instincts and excellent luck so far over the years. There aren’t many comic book movie performances that instantly raised the alarm bellsand demanded a recast. When they do pop up, the entire world seems to come together to condemn them. Jared Leto’s Joker is a perfect example.
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Before David Ayer’s ill-fated filmSuicide Squadeven came out, comic book fans and anyone paying attention wasproclaiming Jared Leto’s Jokerthe worst adaptation of the character. They were correct, and he’s only gotten worse since. His look, his voice, his outfit, his personality, and his slow droning laugh were all instantly matters of mockery. The big dumb “Damaged” tattoo on his forehead was like a billboard taken out by Leto to advertise his terrible performance. Costuming, however, was only the easiest part of his performance to make fun of. Leto made one of the most energetic and compelling villains ever to grace the comic book page feel like a minor antagonist from a low-budget PS3 game. He reprised his role inZack Snyder’sJustice League, possibly as a deliberate troll against DC fans who despised Snyder’s reign over the franchise. He hasn’t been seen since, and ideally, he’ll never be seen again.
Supposedly, Ayer and Warner Bros.sought out Ryan Goslingfor the role of Joker inSuicide Squadbefore Leto was brought in. Whether the star of the upcomingBarbiefilm would’ve outperformed the future Michael Morbius seems like a fairly obvious question, but a lot of the problems with Leto’s Joker transcend the actor. ThoughSuicide Squadwould have still been a mess without Jared Leto in one of the leading roles, there were salvageable aspects of the film. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn was introduced as part of the team, and she got an underrated solo project before she was brought back to star in the sequel. Leto’s Joker was very pointedly not brought back, despite his character beingpart of Harley’s story. His role in the franchise was a failed experiment, it would’ve been left in the past without comment if Snyder hadn’t dragged it back out.
Leto wasn’t just terrible in the role of the Joker, he was reportedly terrible on set. Everyone has heard the stories,they may or not be overblown, but his method actor gimmicks have made him widely despised by the movie-going public. Beyond even the worst-case scenario of his on-set behavior, Leto is accused of much greater offenses. There’s too much to get into when it comes to the long history of Jared Leto’s sexual assault allegations. Suffice it to say that several fans of Leto’s music career have come out to accuse him of heinous sex crimes. People in the industry have commented obliquely on the matter. James Gunn himself has repeatedly commented on Leto’s history of inappropriate relations with underage women. Leto’s casting goes well beyond problems on the screen or the set. If any of the numerous and consistent accusations surrounding the actor are at all true, then the film roles he takes are the least of our concern, but he still shouldn’t be in the public eye.
James Gunn did not include Leto in his standalone sequel toSuicide Squad. The Joker was supposed to appear in the sequel before Gunn joined the project, but his name was never brought up in Gunn’s script. Gunn once mentioned on Twitter that he never considered using Joker because he didn’t “imagine Waller would have any use for him.” Gunn has never spoken publicly about Jared Leto’s Joker, but he has spoken publicly about the actor. Now thathe’s the co-chair of DC Studioshe has the power to take action. If anyone is going to remove the stain of Jared Leto’s involvement from one of the largest franchises in film history, it should be James Gunn.
There is no reason to keep Jared Leto around. His performance is terrible, his reputation is abysmal, and the accusations against him are nightmarish. There’s no loss here. If Gunn and the rest of the DCEU crew have any interest in using the Joker in future projects, they need to bring in just about anyone else for the role. There are so manyinteresting unique performers out there. So many up-and-coming artists who could be catapulted into stardom through a new take on a beloved character. Jared Leto is a detriment to every project he’s involved with. We have three big-screen Jokers, let’s get rid of the one that may be a disgusting monster off-screen too.
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