James Gunn explains why there’s no need for Jared Leto’s Joker to appear in The Suicide Squad. Production is already in full swing for the Warner Bros. and DC movie centered on some of the brand’s most memorable villains. So far, fans have been treated with several set images revealing some of the actors in costume, as well as Idris Elba and John Cena’s mysterious characters in prison garb.

The list of actors appearing in The Suicide Squad was already confirmed prior to the beginning of shooting, and it’s a mix of new and familiar faces to the DCEU sub-franchise. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller will all be back in the squad’s new adventure. Meanwhile, Nathan Fillion, Pete Davidson, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Sean Gunn and Taika Waititi are among the latest addition to the cast, alongside Elba (who previously played Heimdall in the MCU) and Cena. While fans already know that not everyone from David Ayer’s cast from 2016’s Suicide Squad will return, some are still hoping that maybe Leto’s Joker might pop out.

While Gunn won’t confirm or deny the said possibility, he explains that in terms of narrative, Joker’s not really needed in The Suicide Squad. Asked by a fan during an question and answer session over at his official Instagram account, the writer and director of the movie cited the comic books, saying that traditionally, the Clown Prince of Crime has never really been part of Task Force X. “No one but me and a few others know all the characters i1n the movie, but if the Joker isn’t in the film, I don’t think it would be strange as he isn’t a part of the Suicide Squad in the comics,” he explained.

The first and only time fans have seen Leto’s Joker was in Ayer’s Suicide Squad, and his screen time was so minimal, it’s unfair to judge his iteration based on that alone. If anything, fans are still interested in seeing more of the actor in that iconic role, as evidenced by data that he remains a popular search engine topic. That’s despite the recent release of Todd Phillips’s DCEU-separate Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime.

It’s difficult to gauge Gunn’s non-committal answer here. He justifies why Joker won’t have any involvement in The Suicide Squad - after all, he was barely in the first film anyway, so there’s no loose plot thread that urgently needs to be tied off. All that being said, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have Leto cameo as the iconic villain, especially considering how little fans have seen of him in the role up to this point. Depending on how 2020’s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) pans out and if it directly leads to Gunn’s film, there might be a couple of ways to incorporate the Joker into the 2021 flick.

More: Alternate Jared Leto Joker Look Revealed in Suicide Squad Makeup Test

Source: James Gunn

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