Why DC Just Cancelled Jared Leto's Joker Movies

5. Leto's Joker Wasn't Well Received

Jared Leto Joker Suicide Squad
Warner Bros.

Even before Suicide Squad released, it was obvious that the film was going to be divisive. Sure, it had a deceptively great second trailer set to the tune of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, but it didn't distract fans from lingering on Leto's Joker.

A number of set photos and promotional shots had emerged months before any footage was shown, and there was an immediate furore surrounding the character's look. He looked less like a clowning supervillain, and more a gangster who decided to wear his personality literally on his sleeve. No one needs reminding of the "Damaged" tattoo emblazoned across his forehead in neat cursive font, or the mouth on his hand, or... anything, really.

Of course, issues with Leto's Joker stemmed far beyond just the aesthetic. His performance simply paled in comparison to those who came before, with Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger all turning in far more memorable turns as the Clown Prince than Leto, who didn't even have a decent laugh to fall back on.

There were obvious issues script-wise too, but given Leto's antics behind the scenes, it doesn't seem all that disingenuous to say that he just didn't understand the character. He reportedly sent all sorts of 'presents' to his co-stars, including a dead rat and even some condoms, to get into character.

Except... none of this has anything to do with the Joker whatsoever? Yes the Clown Prince clowns around on the regular, but Leto's on-set creepiness only laid the foundations for a thoroughly obnoxious depiction of Batman's greatest villain, and one WB were obviously eager to get away from, given how Joaquin Phoenix is now playing a version of his own.

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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.