DC has welcomed many impressive Joker actors over the years, from Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Heath Ledger to Jared Leto, Cameron Monaghan, and Joaquin Phoenix. Not to mention voice actors like Mark Hamill. Could Johnny Depp be next?
There's apparently a rumor out there about Johnny Depp being eyed for sequels to The Batman, but there's nothing official behind it. Still, digital artist BossLogic just made a compelling visual argument with some Johnny As Joker fan art he created using a Fantastic Beasts photo.
As you know, Johnny Depp currently plays Gellert Grindelwald in J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts movies. He should be heading to film Fantastic Beasts 3 pretty soon, around dealing with his libel lawsuit -- tied to his Fantastic Beasts role -- and his defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, which is at least partly tied to his Pirates of the Caribbean role.
BossLogic took a Warner Bros. photo from the second movie, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and used it to transform Johnny Depp into the Joker. What do you think of this:
Is that a "Fantastic" transformation or what? (The second slide shows the original Fantastic Beasts photo.) I love the note about removing a mustache. Very Justice League of him. Speaking of Justice League, now do Henry Cavill as the Joker...
Again, there's currently nothing official about Johnny Depp as Joker or in anything connected to the DC world, but these fan images help to get the imagination working. Every Joker has had a slightly -- or extremely -- different look. There's no saying this is how a Johnny Joker would look, but it's one idea.
Johnny Depp does love eccentric roles. Two actors have already won Oscars for playing the Joker -- Heath Ledger and, just recently, Joaquin Phoenix. I can see the role appealing, it's just a matter of what DC wants to do with the Joker in the future. It hasn't even been a year since Phoenix played Joker in a universe separate from the DCEU of Suicide Squad, which showed Jared Leto in the role. At some point, we may have Joker overkill.
Matt Reeves' The Batman is now filming with Robert Pattinson for its June 2021 release, and it's too soon to really know what DC plans to do for sequels. The Batman is listed among the films in the DC Extended Universe, after Wonder Woman 1984 and before The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, Shazam! 2, The Flash, and Aquaman 2.
Jared Leto's Joker wasn't included in Birds of Prey, which is now in theaters, and it looks like he's not in The Suicide Squad with Margot Robbie either. If he's not in those movies, I don't see how he returns at all. But Joaquin Phoenix's Joker isn't meant to cross over with the DCEU movies either, despite fans dreaming of a Robert Pattinson/Joaquin Phoenix team-up.
So, theoretically, there's room for another Joker, if DC/Warner Bros. is interested in pursuing options down the road. Would you like them to consider Johnny Depp or is that a no from you?
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