"What?!" you cry. "The Joker isn't going to be re-cast in 2016 - what the heck are you thinking?" Perhaps not. But how sure are you on that matter, given the rumour that the Joker of Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman isn't the Joker at all, but Jason Todd? You know, Batman's former sidekick, Robin, beaten to a pulp by the actual Joker, which inspired him to take on a similar mantel - the most famous of which is the Red Hood. If that little theory turns out to be true (and it very well could turn out to be true, because Warner Bros. seem to be doing what they want with the canon), and it turns out that Jared Leto's Joker is actually Jason Todd, then that means there's another Joker out there - an older, grizzled incarnation of the character, perhaps, who is pulling the strings behind the scenes with all the malevolence of a puppet master bent on destroying the Batman. When it comes to the casting of this potential Joker, then, there is only one choice: people have been clamouring for Willem Dafoe to take on the role of the Clown Prince of Gotham for decades now, and - should this theory reveal itself to be true - there's no actor in the world more suited to playing the character. With his manic laugh, strange face and tendency towards the weird, he'd make a terrifying foe in Affleck's solo Batman flick.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
