Jared Leto is a tough artist to read. There are times when he can plunge himself into the Method style of acting, refusing to break character as The Joker (for example) to the point that he's sending his co-stars disgusting "gifts." And then later, he can be dismissive of said performance, not sure if he'll even want to return to it... even though he's contractually obligated. Now that the promotional tour for Suicide Squad is over, Jared Leto has gone back to being a rock star, and at his 30 Seconds To Mars Summer Camp, Camp Mars, he opened up to fans about his disappointment over the way the movie came out, and his diminished role in it.
Something strange has happened today, however. The Jared Leto fan who posted the news that started this cycle, found at the Tumblr la-leto, deleted their original post after it was picked up by Batman-News. In that post, they shared Leto's sharing of sentiments that he was "disappointed" by what ended up in the theatrical cut of David Ayer's Suicide Squad -- even though he might have admitted to not seeing the final cut of the movie yet. The exact phrasing in the Tumblr post said that Leto told the gathered group of Mars fans that he, in the paraphrased words of the Tumblr poster, was "feeling sort of tricked into being a part of something that had been pitched to him very differently; thinking it would've been more artistic than what it became; feeling overwhelmed by the hate regarding the look and choices."
Only, once other news outlets started picking up on this as a story, the post was deleted, replaced by this Tumblr post criticizing news outlets for reporting on things this person shared.
Is this breaking news? Hardly. Jared Leto has been, at times, cautiously guarded about his take on The Joker and the way that he is portrayed in Suicide Squad. And if there's one character who seemed to have suffered the most by the various cuts that affected Suicide Squad over the course of its production, it's Leto's Joker, who essentially boils down to 7 minutes of screen time and a lot of possible scenes that didn't amount to full-blown arcs. Leto has been saying in the press that you could make a whole other movie from the stuff that was deleted from Suicide Squad and his performance. He's just continuing to vent those frustrations now that the movie is out, and playing.
That's the thing, though. The movie's still out, and while it's not destroying at the box office, it's playing well with fans, so Jared Leto (theoretically) should still be supportive of a work that will only benefit his profile. Batman-News made a big deal of Jared Leto saying "Fuck 'em" with regards to Warner Bros., but he was showing off, like a rock star in front of his fans, who asked if the studio frowned on his rock-climbing activities when he was under contract forSquad. No real big deal there.
Jared Leto likely remains under contract, and should be back as The Joker in an upcoming DC film. We have no idea where or when, because there is no Suicide Squad 2 on the docket, and the solo batman could go in any direction, involving the Joker or avoiding him. But what we learned today is that Jared Leto remains unhappy about how his Joker performance was handled, and he's not afraid to share that discontent with his fans. Does it matter? How much does it matter? Weigh in below.
And what if Jared Leto decides to leave the franchise? What should DC do with The Joker in his absence. We actually have three SOLID ideas. Check them out on the next page:
For the sake of argument, let's pretend that Leto is indeed extremely angry about what happened with Suicide Squad and either found a way out of his contract or Warner Bros decide to let him go due his comments. If he left this franchise, what would the studio's options be for The Joker? How could they get around this setback? Here are our three solutions.
What DC Should Do With The Joker If Jared Leto Decides Not To Come Back
