Over the past couple of years, comic book movies have begun to dip their toes into the concept of the multiverse, an idea that's been well-utilized for decades in the pages of DC and Marvel comics. After the overwhelming success of Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the floodgates opened and more studios appeared much more open to expand on the multiverse in their big-budget projects.
Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe are set to embrace the multiverse, starting off with WandaVision for Marvel and The Flash for DC. The Flash will have an especially deep dive into this concept, featuring at least two different versions of Batman in the same movie: the DCEU version played by Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton's 1989 Caped Crusader making a return after nearly 30 years.
While The Flash movie is the only DCEU entry confirmed to focus on the Multiverse, another actor from the franchise spoke on the potential of another set of characters joining the fray.
NEWS
In a recent interview on the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, DCEU Joker actor Jared Leto admitted that the potential of multiple Jokers coming into the DCEU through the multiverse would be something special.
During the show, the interviewer shared:
"My dream project is to dream to get all of the cinematic Joker's sort of like into the Spider-Verse in a movie where you and Joaquin [Phoenix] and Jack Nicholson can all play off each other. I just think that would be a masterclass."
Leto responded positively to the idea, saying that such a concept would be "a lot of fun":
"Oh my god. They might need to lock us up after that. That sounds like a lot of insanity. And a lot of fun.
WHAT THIS MEANS
By no means is Jared Leto saying that DC is planning to utilize the talents of past Joker actors; he's simply saying that he'd be more than open to the idea if it became a reality.
The Joker has been played on screen by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and the role has served as a gateway for a number of iconic performances through comic book movie history. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor with his take on the Clown Prince in 2009's The Dark Knight, while Joaquin Phoenix won the Best Actor award this year for his eccentric portrayal in 2019's Joker. Jack Nicholson acted as the Joker opposite Michael Keaton in 1989's Batman, and voice actors like Mark Hamill and Zack Galifianakis brought the villain to life in the animated realm.
Taking this theory seriously, Leto and Phoenix would be much easier to bring into this sort of project due to their relatively younger age. Leto is already confirmed to play the role again in the Snyder Cut, and Phoenix is rumored to be signed on for at least one sequel to Joker. Nicholson is over 80 years old and has no acting credits to his name since 2010, but with the news that seems to break regularly in recent days, anything is possible.
Jared Leto will play the Joker for a second time in Zack Snyder's director's cut of Justice League, which will premiere on HBO Max in March 2021.
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