9 Actors Who Almost Played Comic Book Villains

David Ayer's Suicide Squad found box-office success in spite of itself, with $746m worldwide flying in the face of its 27% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's not a well-liked movie, to put it mildly, and Jared Leto's take on the Joker is one of the movie's more objectionable components.

Tattooed where Heath Ledger's take was scarred, Leto plays the Clown Prince of Crime like a neon-coloured pimp, but his peculiar brand of method acting combined with studio interference led to it being more boring then beguilingly bizarre.

It's interesting to note, then, that Ayer's first choice was actually Ryan Gosling. The actor isn't an obvious pick for the role (but then, nor were Ledger and Leto), but there is something intriguing about the idea. Aside from his good looks, Gosling possesses a great innate coolness and charisma, mixed with a slight sense of being intangible and degree of otherness to him. Look at his charm in, say, Crazy Stupid Love, his bottled intensity in Drive, and his searing emotion in Blue Valentine, and you can start to see a pieces of what could be a great take on the character (with the right material, of course).

Following in the footsteps of Ledger's acclaimed performance in the role would be intimidating for any actor, but signing a multi-picture contract is what gave Gosling cold feet, and allowed him to dodge the bullet here. Gosling and Leto later shared the screen in Dennis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, where Gosling would once again come out much better off.