Why DC Just Cancelled Jared Leto's Joker Movies

The DCEU is undergoing some pretty drastic changes...

by Ewan Paterson
Jared Joker
Warner Bros.

Although Aquaman became the highest grossing DC film of all time in December, Warner Bros. comic book franchise hasn't experienced an easy ride - at least not compared to Marvel.

The DCEU has experienced the lowest of lows and only the briefest of highs, falling afoul of controversy and negative critical consensus in most of their releases. It's something WB are keen to change, and with the release of Wonder Woman, Aquaman - and the soon to be released Shazam! - the future actually looks fairly bright for the studio's series of superhero films.

For a while now, there've been plenty of reports, rumours and just general speculation surrounding the future of the DCEU and just how, exactly, it'll proceed. Everything from Henry Cavill potentially leaving the role of Superman to the only recently concluded "will he, won't he?" Batfleck saga have managed to dominate headlines for months, but today, we finally have an inkling of what's happening to a few other DC projects - namely the ones involving Jared Leto's Joker.

According to Forbes, both the Harley Quinn-Joker Romcom spin-off and Leto's own solo Joker movie have been cancelled for good. No reason was given, but with WB gearing up for a whole new era of DC filmmaking, and with Leto making new commitments elsewhere, the picture that ends up being painted isn't all that complicated...

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.