Jared Leto cast as The Joker

[Henry Spencer]

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=42895

Meet your new Joker. And, while you’re about it, your new Deadshot, Rick Flag, Boomerang, Harley Quinn and Enchantress. After a few weeks of speculation and deal making, Jared Leto, Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney and Cara Delevingne have all officially signed on to star in David Ayer’s take on the DC villains tweam-up Suicide Squad.

With a script by Justin Marks, the film will see an assembly of baddies and anti-heroes brought together by a secretive government group and offered a shot at redemption if they’ll go on a mission. There’s just one tiny drawback: they might not survive it.

The Joker, of course, needs little introduction, though it’ll be odd to see him introduced without his natural nemesis, Batman. Assuming Warner Bros. doesn’t have plans to stealthily introduce him in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice via some extra shooting, of course – after all, the film still doesn’t arrive until early 2016.

Smith’s Deadshot, meanwhile – who Courtney had been rumoured for – is really Floyd Lawton, a hired assassin who claims he never misses. Rick Flag (Hardy) is the son of a legendary military man called upon to lead the squad despite some seriously unstable tendencies. Robbie has taken the role of Harley Quinn, who might be familiar to Batman fans as The Joker’s female sidekick, but who has her own agenda. Courtney, meanwhile, will be Boomerang, whose skill you can probably figure out. Seen as something of a class clown by the others, he’s also been known for racism, though we doubt that will be covered in the film. Finally, there’s Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, a woman who uses her magical gifts for villainous ends.

There have been reports that Jesse Eisenberg is in talks to show up as Lex Luthor, but there’s no word on whether he has actually made a deal. And Warners is still looking for someone to play Amanda Waller, who oversees the team, with the likes of Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and even Oprah Winfrey under consideration. “The Warner Bros. roots are deep on this one,” Warner Bros. president Greg Silverman says in a statement picked up by Variety. “We look forward to seeing this terrific ensemble, under David Ayer’s amazing guidance, give new meaning to what it means to be a villain and what it means to be a hero.” Ayer will kick off shooting this coming April in Toronto, aiming for an August 5, 2016 release date.

Thoughts? Will he beat out Ledger, Nicholson and Hamill?

Oh yeah, it's for that Suicide Squad film and there's other people cast in that too like Tom Hardy and Will Smith, but eh, whatever. Film sounds good to me and I know nothing about Suicide Squad.

[Kenny]

Or Cesar Romero?

Hard to say. It's a surprising casting choice.

[OL]

I don't mind the idea of Jared Leto as the Joker. He's a pretty good actor. And after initially doubting Heath Ledger, I'm a little more open to seeing how others might tackle it. He doesn't have the screen presence (or, in the case of Hamill, vocal presence) of other actors who have played the role, but I'm open to seeing how he does.
Only thing about it is... why the fuck is the Joker in the Suicide Squad movie to begin with? Sure, he's been in the comics here and there, but he's nowhere near as iconic for the team as others are. At least they have Deadshot, Rick Flag, and Captain Boomerang (I don't care what they say, it's not just "Boomerang," it's "Captain Boomerang"). They really should have opted for someone like Deathstroke or something, rather than the Joker. Joker is just way too entwined with the Batman mythos, and it seems a bit odd to have him appearing outside of a Batman movie first, when they're trying to put together this grand series of movies in-line with how Marvel is doing things.

Either way, my main concern with the news regards Deadshot; who in their right fucking mind actually sought out Will Smith to play Deadshot? Absolutely nothing about Smith makes me think of Floyd Lawton. For one thing, Smith is just too big a "movie star" for anyone to be able to believe him as this character. The Floyd Lawton of the comics is a seriously effed up character, and that just ain't Smith. I won't be able to take him seriously at all, knowing how the character is supposed to be, as opposed to the "jiggied up" version Smith will no doubt play. It doesn't matter what role he's playing, serious or comedic, he always has a certain way about him that screams "Will Smith," rather than letting you just get lost in his acting ability.
This is an actor who has his own personal writer (yes, seriously) who he hires to revise the scripts he takes on, and make them more natural for Smith's personality and manner of speaking. Yeah, he actually does that.
And yeah, I'll say it: Deadshot isn't black. It'd be one thing if there were multiple versions of the character, one happens to be black, and they decide to use that one. That could be the case for Green Lantern, for example, and that'd be totally fine. But there's only one Deadshot. And sorry, but he just isn't black. If you're handling a comics adaptation, it's silly to just change things like this for no reason. You would never take Blade, for example, and turn him white, would you?
That would never fly. So why is this okay?

On top of all of that, I'm a little bothered by part of the press quote where the guy says:

“We look forward to seeing this terrific ensemble, under David Ayer’s amazing guidance, give new meaning to what it means to be a villain and what it means to be a hero.”

Erm... no.
The characters in Suicide Squad are just villains. They're pressed into service by the government, but the whole point is that they're like the Dirty Dozen; some of them are so messed up and villainous that the missions go awry. I don't want to see any of this "blurring the lines between good and bad" bullshit. They're bad. That's why it's such a fun concept.

Anyway, if anyone wants to get a good idea of the Suicide Squad outside of the comics, see if you can dig up the Justice League Unlimited episode called "Task Force X." Still one of my favorite episodes of that show (a show filled with many, many fantastic episodes). And it's written by Darwyn Cooke no less, who has an amazing grasp of noir and hard boiled dialogue and style, so it's actually a lot edgier than you'd expect out of a "kids" cartoon.
It's probably better than how this movie will end up.

[Calshot]

Joker was in the recent DC Animated Suicide Squad movie, Assault on Arkham, though part of that was because it was also sort of a prequel to Arkham Origins.

Maybe Warner Brothers doesn't think that they have the Marvel appeal to make a movie entirely with unknown characters, ala Guardians of the Galaxy.

Or it could just be part of the trend to put the Joker in everything.

[NewMyles]

One thing with Leto is he puts everything hes got into roles, and I'm sure this won't be any different.

Overall though, I'm not a big Leto fan. Not sure why, I've only seen him in a couple movie... Lord of War being the one that pops in my head. I just find him uncecessary intense... but that might work for this role.

As for the movie itself, I'm not too familar with Suicide Squad so i'll probably enjoy this more than the average.

I'm also a big fan of Ayer's work. Excited to see how he does this type of movie.

[Shenmuedabest]

Jared Leto was great in Dallas Buyers Club. He looked a little like the Joker and his performance was phenomenal. He'll be good.

The rest of the film will be utter turd.

[MiTT3NZ]

The only reason he'll be in it is Harley. Either flashbacks or to torment her. Or possibly try to kill the Squad.

As for the actor... never heard of him in my life, which helps me in my attempts to not pre-judge the casting choice.

[Kenny]

Leto is a good actor, he's Angel Face in Fight Club.

I'm still uncertain with him as the Joker. Ledger proved you shouldn't judge until you see it in action.