Jared Leto's Joker Movie is Another DC Film No One Asked For

The DC Cinematic Universe is about to get a little bigger thanks to a movie that hardly anyone expected would happen or even wanted. And who says Warner Bros. doesn’t know what they’re doing with the DC franchises?

Variety reported Tuesday Jared Leto will return as the Joker in a standalone movie, which will expand on the universe created in 2016’s Suicide Squad. There is no title set for this film, but Leto will receive an executive producer credit.

Back in February, the entertainment outlet also reported Joaquin Phoenix would be the next to take on the role of the “Prince of Crime” in a solo film directed by Todd Phillips of The Hangover movies. The Phillips Joker film would start a new cinematic universe. On the other hand, the newly announced Leto movie will be in the same universe as Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn movie Birds of Prey.

Leto’s performance in Suicide Squad was brief and unforgettable, but not in a good way. What amounted to a long cameo left a bad taste in the mouths of Joker fans. Many didn’t care for his look, especially the “damaged” tattoo on his forehead, his metal teeth, or his laugh. Even though Leto’s preparation for his performance as the Joker included some disturbing pranks and him posting on social media as the character, the result was underwhelming, to say the least.

No date is set for the release of the standalone Joker film. With Leto involved, this could mean he will make an appearance in Birds of Prey. It is unclear if there will be a connection to the rumored The Batman with Ben Affleck.

Although the DC Cinematic Universe isn’t killing it on the big screen, the DC TV shows are still fun to watch. A soon to be new addition to the DC TV universe is a Swamp Thing series set to debut in 2019.