Suicide Squad: James Gunn didn’t consider bringing back Jared Leto’s Joker

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Director James Gunn brought back a few faces from David Ayer's Suicide Squad for his upcoming installment but one character he didn't consider bringing back was Jared Leto's Joker. 

In a recent interview with the "New York Times", Gunn revealed that he never considered bringing back Joker for The Suicide Squad because he didn't fit into the world the director was creating for the film. Gunn went on to say since The Suicide Squad is a war film, he doesn't think Joker would be of any help in that particular situation. The director said, "Joker, no. I just don't know why Joker would be in the Suicide Squad. He wouldn't be helpful in that type of war situation."

Jared Leto's take on the character was quite divisive with fans and there was also the issue of his lack of screentime. The marketing for 2016's Suicide Squad featured him rather heavily but he had what amounted to maybe 6 minutes of screentime that was spread throughout the film. Leto made a recent appearance as the character in this year's Zack Snyder's Justice League.

James Gunn's The Suicide Squad follows the members of Task Force X after they're sent to the South American island of Corto Maltese to destroy Jotunheim, a Nazi-era prison, and laboratory which held political prisoners and conducted experiments. The large ensemble cast includes Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, John Cena as Peacemaker, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Peter Capaldi as Thinker, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Michael Rooker as Savant, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Sean Gunn as Weasel, Flula Borg as Javelin, Juan Diego Botto as Silvio Luna, and Mayling Ng as Mongal. Steve Agee is also pulling double duty doing the motion capture for King Shark and starring as John Economos, while Sylvester Stallone provides the vocal talent for King Shark.

Do YOU agree with James Gunn's choice to not include Joker in The Suicide Squad?