Us fans really thought we'd seen the last of Jared Leto's Joker. With a Suicide Squad reboot on the way from James Gunn, Joaquin Phoenix leading a solo Joker movie releasing this year, and Leto's involvement in Sony's Morbius, The Living Vampire movie, we really thought we were in the clear. Well apparently not. Next year's Birds of Prey movie which is set to star Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn as its lead alongside a team of DC heroines will feature the return of the Leto's Joker. Thanks to some set photos that have made their way online of Harley Quinn and Joker interacting, we now know he'll somehow be making an appearance. Whats hard to tell though is whether Leto is the actual actor in costume as we can't see his face, and its also worth noting he's currently filming Morbius.
Below are the set photos from Birds of Prey which seemingly show Joker kicking Harley out of an apartment they shared:
The scene above seems to be taking place after an argument between the couple, and may be teasing a breakup between the two. This would explain why there's been no sign of Leto's Joker being in the movie, as it may just be a cameo appearance to set up Harley's story arc. With the current change of direction in the DC movie universe, it is a little odd to see such a clear connection their past movies. With Phoenix's Joker movie coming out later this year, and the cancelation of a planned Harley Quinn and Joker team-up movie, it looked like the studio had no plans to use his version of Joker anymore.
We know the primary villains of Birds of Prey will be Black Mask played by Ewan McGregor and Victor Zsasz played by Chris Messina, so there's currently no vacancy for Joker to fill as the antagonist. Having said that, his inclusion in Birds of Prey may be an indication that DC still has future plans for his character. We know Matt Reeves probably has no interest in using him for The Batman as that movie seems to be very separate from the DCEU, but a possible appearance in Gunn's Suicide Squad could still be on the table. Much of the criticism Leto got for his portrayal of the role in the first Suicide Squad movie was blamed on how much was cut by Warner Bros. of the actor's performance. Could Leto's Joker finally be getting a chance at redemption?
So what do you think of Leto's Joker making his return in Birds of Prey? Would you like to see his version of the character in future DC movies? Let us know below!
