Jared Leto reportedly tried to kill Joaquin Phoenix's Joker movie


The runaway success of the new Joker movie, which stars Joaquin Phoenix, has left at least one person without a smile: Jared Leto, who also played the Joker in 2016's critically maligned Suicide Squad, and had hoped to reprise the role. When the rival Joker first came to his attention, Leto told his agents that they should try to stop the movie from being produced, sources familiar with the matter told The Hollywood Reporter. Leto reportedly feared — correctly! — that the Joker would get in the way of his own plans for the character. The Hollywood Reporter also says the version of the Joker played by Leto is unlikely to return in any future D.C. Comics movies — which is probably for the best, since Leto seems to be the only one who had any interest in seeing him again.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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