Who Gets The Last Laugh? Jared Leto Is Confused By His DCEU Future

When it comes to the convoluted state of affairs that is the DCEU, the current situation is no laughing matter. Even with funnyman/psycho the Joker, it is hard to see the funny side of what is going on, especially if you are the man behind the maniac. After a lukewarm response to David Ayer's #SuicideSquad, and to #JaredLeto's performance as Puddin', the jury is still out on how the Joker will fit into the future of the cinematic slate.

No Laughing Matter

While Leto certainly seems to want to bleach his skin and doodle on the tats once more, there are already those who are calling for a "reboot" of the character with someone else playing Batman's nemesis. It would be foolish of #GeoffJohns to pull such a move after only one film with Leto, but it seems that the #DCEU is already inadvertently shoving Leto into a vat of chemicals.

With Leonardo DiCaprio being eyed for an uber-dark Joker origin movie, you can't blame Leto for being a little miffed. The actor is seemingly just as confused as we are, while an interview with ODE makes it sound like the silver-grilled gangster could already be on his way out:

"I’m a little confused too, but yeah, there are a couple of things happening in the DC world and I loved the Joker, he’s a great character, a really fun character to play."

It could just be Freudian slip, but emphasis on the word "loved" here and not "love." DiCaprio is nothing more than a rumor right now, but fans do know that Leto will definitely be out of the Joker origin film.

Things only get worse when the 45-year-old alludes to someone else painting that twisted smile on their face:

"It’s a big universe and when you play the Joker, there’s no ownership there. You have the honor of holding the baton for a little while and then passing it off. But there are other films in development and I’m excited to see what comes from them."

Looking back over the history of Mr. J, apart from the TV shows and video games, each actor to play Joker has only ever done it for one movie. That being said, Leto almost certainly has at least two more movies up the sleeve of his purple suit. It may be Martin Scorsese circling the Joker origin movie, but both #SuicideSquad2 and the Joker/Harley spin-off will surely star Leto. Beyond that, we can't imagine that #MattReeves would tackle a Batman trilogy without the Clown Prince of Crime, but who knows if Leto will be sticking around that long.

There have been various theories and speculation that Leto's Joker isn't THE Joker, and a twist like multiple Jokers would be one hell of a way to shake up the DCEU — forget Aquaman, someone get Willem Dafoe some green hair dye, stat. However, decisions clearly need to be made soon on what Johns and co. plan on doing with Leto, Joker, or even Batman himself. With the Joker standalone rumored to be set in the '80s and out of the DCEU continuity, it seems that we don't need the Riddler to feel a little puzzled by this one.