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We could have used a picture of the Joker here, but we didn’t.

If you were among the surprisingly large number of people who saw Suicide Squad this weekend, you already know Jared “edgelord” Leto was barely in the film despite his much-ballyhooed method actor shenanigans on set, including sending weird gifts (like used condoms) to co-workers (which is legal?) and never breaking character between scenes.

Leto has reportedly said many of his scenes were cut, which makes us think this may have all been an elaborate ruse by the rest of the cast to get him to shave off his eyebrows and and stay in character for two months straight. We’d watch that movie. And hey, it sounds like Leto wants that movie to happen, too. Sort of.

Leto spoke about his deleted scenes and his push for an R-rating during a BBC Radio 1 interview (we hope he wore the coat for radio). And, bless his heart, he seems to think his scenes were cut because they were just too good, you guys.

“I think that I brought so much to the table in every scene that it was probably more about filtering all of the insanity, because I wanted to give a lot of options, and I think there’s probably enough footage in this film for a Joker movie.”

Modest.

He also reveals in the interview that he told director David Ayer they should bump it up to an R rating. “It felt like, if a film was ever going to be rated R, it should be the one about the villains.” For what it’s worth, Ayer said the movie was planned as PG-13 from the start, and he wouldn’t do it as an R movie unless he intended that from the beginning, but an R-rated sequel would be “worth lobbying for.” Oh man, can you imagine how extreme and hardcore Jared Leto and his fancy coats will get if there’s an R-rated followup? The bodies, the floor, hitting it.

Here’s the full, 14-minute interview if you think you can handle how twisted and edgy Leto is:

And here are some totally unrelated tweets.

(Via Screen Rant, Keith Calder, and Patrick Monahan)

THE LAUGHING MAN/YOUTUBE

There’s a version of Suicide Squad out there — probably in Jared Leto’s “twisted” mind — that’s much darker than the final PG-13 product. Not that Warner Bros. wants to see it; they’re plenty happy with the record-breaking $135.1 million David Ayer’s film made in its first weekend of release. Plus, “for an R movie, you have to decide to do it right out the gate,” the director said, adding that an R-rated sequel “would be worth lobbying for.”

We can get a sense of what a Suicide Squad not aimed for the Hot Topic demo might have looked like, though, based on this (unconfirmed) list of cut scenes, including (spoilers), “Early cuts reportedly included a passing reference to Slipknot being a serial rapist, likely to further paint him as unsympathetic to the audience ahead of his own death,” and “Joker returns during the final battle in the subway station, face half-burnt from the helicopter crash.”

Speaking of the Joker and his face: a fan film shows him taking his face… off.

Loosely based on DC’s Death of the Family arc, The Laughing Man stars the Joker and Harley Quinn (neither of whom are named, for legal reasons) acting like in-love lunatics. They show affection for each other by torturing an asylum psychotherapist and live-streaming the entire thing, naturally. The hyper-stylized short even gets to the origin of the Joker’s gnarled teeth.

In an interview with No Film School, The Laughing Man‘s co-creator, Diego Hallivis, said he and his brother Julio “wanted to tell a story that centered on the Joker without Batman showing up to save the day. A story that didn’t need to be PG-13 for commercial reasons — where the protagonist isn’t necessarily a hero. We knew we had to push it and do something very gory, something studios won’t do.” Not to mention something where you don’t have to remind everyone that it changed you forever. They succeeded.

Warner

Suicide Squad opened last weekend, breaking records for an August release, but at least one guy and his brother (who is a lawyer) are so mad about the movie they intend to sue. Their complaint comes down to noted edgelord Jared Leto being barely in the film despite all the deleted scenes used for the trailers. Using deleted scenes to spice up a trailer is nothing new, although some movies like Fantastic Four have come under fire for the practice. And now — if Redditor “BlackPanther2016” isn’t just an elaborate ruse — this trailer practice may earn a silly lawsuit for “false advertising” in the U.K. court system.

This guy claims his case has already been accepted by the court and goes forward this Thursday. “My brother (who is a lawyer) and I are going to sue WB and DC for false advertising, misleading visual images and gaining a profit from us and millions others due to these acts,” he claims. Then he goes on a rant in which he claims he had to drive 300 miles to London from Scotland to see the movie and that the employees of the theater laughed at him (causing “trauma”) when he asked for a refund. Oh, you sweet baby angel.

Here’s the full long-winded thing, which we hope is a joke but fear may not be:

Movie Trailers are like food menus, they give you a preview of what your gonna get. If you look at a McDonald’s menu and you choose to get your favourite burger, presented/showcased in a nice picture with pickles, chicken, mild cheese(you’re favourite, in-fact…that’s the only reason you’re getting this burger…because you love mild cheese). So you use your hard worked money to pay for this burger, you get the burger, but only to find out that…this isn’t the burger you ordered. Yes it has pickles and chicken…but…it doesn’t have mild cheese…it has regular cheese.

Suicide Squad trailers showcased several SPECIFIC Joker scenes that I had to pay for the whole movie just so that I can go watch those SPECIFIC SCENES that WB/DC had advertised in their trailers and TV spots. These scenes are: When Joker banged his head on his car window, when Joker says, ”let me show you my toys”, when Joker punchs the roof of his car, when Joker drops a bomb with his face all messed up and says, ”BYE BYE!”. Non of these scenes were in the movie. I drove 300 miles to London to go watch these specific scenes they had explicitly advertised in their TV ads…and they didn’t show them to me. Adding to this, they were also 2 specific Katana scenes they advertised that were also the reason I wanted to go watch the movie. These scenes were: Katana’s eyes going black, and a slow motion shot of her and her sword taking souls…in a smokey kind of style. These scenes were advertised several times in the 1st trailer and many TV ads…but they didn’t show it to me in the movie. I wasted alot of money paying and travelling to go watch this movie because of these specific scenes they had advertised to me and all of us saying, ”hey, check out our preview! this will all be in our movie, come watch it on the 5th!!”. All lies. I told the theatre about this unjust act and said I didn’t get what I came here to see…can I have my money back. They laughed at me and kicked me out. So I’m now taking this to court. I want my refund, the trauma of being embarrassed as I was being kicked out and people laughing at me for wanting my refund, and also the 160 pounds of fuel money I used to drive to London from Scotland.

If you advertise something…give me what you have advertised. Period. This is becoming a habbit with movie studios, showing epic scenes in trailers…but their never shown in the movies. It’s unjust.

I just want to say, join me if you feel the same way. Let’s stop this nonsense of false bullsh*tery…and don’t let them bribe you with their ”deluxe premium special directors gold extended edition supreme cut” nonsense. You should get what they advertised as their first theatre showing and what you have paid for based on what they have showed you in their advertisements.

Our court process will begin on 11/08/16 this week.

Instead of going out to complain, he should have stuck around for all that free popcorn. Also should have learned the difference between “your” and “you’re”. Oh no, am I going to get sued for causing him trauma by saying that? (Why so serious?)

Let’s take everyone who wants to sue over not enjoying the movie and have them brawl with anyone who earnestly signed the petition to shut down Rotten Tomatoes over bad Suicide Squad reviews. Perhaps we could bet on our favorite side and call them some sort of, I don’t know, kamikaze squad?

(Via Reddit and Screen Rant)

DC Comics co-publisher and comic art legend Jim Lee recently shared a treat with the internet. It’s nothing new to have famous people step in to record your voice mail greeting, Jason Alexander did Kat Dennings a solid by re-creating his Constanza answering machine message on her voice mail, but Lee may have one that’s a bit better. The DC Comics head managed to get Mark Hamill to record his outgoing message in character as The Joker. And not Heath Ledger’s Joker or Jared Leto’s completely twisted Joker from Suicide Squad, but THE Joker from Batman The Animated Series. Or just The Joker.

It’s got the laugh, a little bit of humor, and a pretty morbid twist to the end involving being bound and gagged over a vat of acid. One can never understand why all these supervillains are just sitting around with vats of acid, but I can’t disapprove of it. A vat of boiling acid or some sort of medieval pendulum is something you can never have enough of in your evil plots.

One minor complaint, though. The message is a bit long. I’d hate to call that and have to wait through it to leave a message each time. It’s much better to just pick music like a normal person. Molly Hatchet has a time and a place in my phone messages.

(Via Instagram)

Suicide Squad may have garnered some bad reviews and silly petitions and at least one guy claiming he’ll see Warner in court, but one thing people seem to agree on is that Margot Robbie nailed it as Harley Quinn. Even before the movie’s release, the early buzz was that Warner was contemplating a Harley Quinn spin-off produced by and starring Margot Robbie, and Robbie herself has said she wants to play the character “forever.” Director David Ayer also set up the possibility.

Robbie reiterates her love for the character and desire for more opportunities to portray her in the video above, an episode of “Tipsy Talk” with host Hazel Hayes. They drank mimosas and talked Squad for ten minutes. Besides saying she’s “trying to make that happen” regarding a Harley Quinn spin-off, she also raved about her good luck landing a character who gets to have funny one-liners, action scenes, and her own story arc, three things you don’t often see proffered to a female character in a big-budget movie.

But what of all those deleted scenes of Jared Leto’s Joker? Leto seems to think there were so many twisted, too-hot-for-theaters scenes of him that they could form their own R-rated spin-off movie where we’ll finally get to see his toys (not the ones he sent to co-workers, hopefully). Which is good, since the movie changed him forever (wake me up, WAKE ME UP INSIDE) and maybe he’ll just have to do movies where he can play the Joker from now on.

David Ayer has already confirmed there were at least ten minutes of deleted scenes, but he wouldn’t specify if Harley and Joker were in them. Robbie, on the other hand, openly spoke about how much Harley/Joker material was left out of the final cut, and she also explained why. It distracted from the main storyline.

“There was so much of our backstory… they probably realized that the emotional through-line of the story had to be the mission we were on, and kind of explaining The Enchantress’ position and all that kind of stuff, and the backstory stuff — though it’s like magic… there’s a lot but it just didn’t make sense to confuse the present storyline with that.”

Now I can’t stop picturing Jared Leto complaining about his missing scenes while Cara Delevingne just goes, “Shhh, hush now, secondary villain. Mamma’s talking.”

Warner

(Via ChewingSand and Screen Rant)

fox

Suicide Squad is a classic case of false advertising.

The trailers made David Ayer’s film — which teams up some of DC’s most ruthless bad guys and girls, including Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Killer Croc — look like a fun and funny romp, the antidote to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s unceasing doom and gloom. The trailers lied, despite (or possibly because of) Suicide Squad being edited by the same company behind the popular teasers. That resulted in two cuts of the movie — “Ayer’s downbeat version, and a wacky graphics and classic rock-packed take cooked up by the trailer guys” — being smashed together, leading to “a lot of panic and ego.”

Suicide Squad is too incoherent to have any one identity, which is a shame because it could have been wonderful and, most of all, weird. So much of the pre-release buzz was centered on Jared Leto’s gross gifts, and how there was an on-set therapist for the actors, and how it was going to be like Deadpool, which isn’t a great movie, but at least it’s entertaining. Yet little of that twisted edginess — as Leto would no doubt put it — made it to the big screen.

If you want weird and you want Harley Quinn, the Joker, and Batman, look to the small screen, where Fox’s Batman: The Animated Series aired from 1992 to 1995. TV Guide called the visually stunning noir-classic the seventh greatest cartoon of all-time, and, for me at least, it’s the defining Batman look. Ben Affleck ain’t got nothing on Kevin Conroy. After sitting through Suicide Squad, I re-watched every Harley episode of The Animated Series (it’s where she made her debut) and was struck by how charmingly odd they are.

Below, you’ll find every time she makes an appearance, and two or three of the episode’s oddest moments. Margot Robbie did a fine job in Suicide Squad, but she can’t compete Arleen Sorkin’s original interpretation of the character (or with being dragged around Gotham by two hyenas).

“Joker’s Favor” (1992)

• Charlie Collins is a normal Gotham City citizen who’s having a really bad day. That’s all it takes “to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy,” and Charlie goes a little nuts when he gets cuts off by — you guessed it — the Clown Prince of Crime. The poor schlub tries to stick up for himself before realizing he messed with the wrong maniac; the Joker is all set to kill Charlie until he says he’ll do anything to save his life. Two years later, the Joker calls in the favor: for Charlie to open a door so Harley can deliver a (poisonous) cake. That’s it.

FOX

• One of the Joker’s goons reads a Tiny Toon Adventures comic, based on the animated series where key Batman: The Animated Series talents like Bruce Timm and Paul Dini — Harley’s co-creators — got their start.

FOX

• The Joker plans to kill Commissioner Gordon and other Gotham bigwigs with a bomb that looks like… the Joker. Also, some guy confuses Harley for a stripper because she’s in a police officer’s uniform. This is a kids’ show.

FOX

“The Laughing Fish” (1993)

• Based on a classic ’70s story by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers, “The Laughing Fish” finds The Joker making all the fish in Gotham turn green and white, with a crazy lipsticked smile. “He’s made his move,” Batman says while a crew of confused fishermen look at their catch. What’s the move? The Joker informs the copyrights office that because the fish bear his likeness, he deserves a cut of the profit from every one that’s sold. The Joker literally tries to patent fish.

FOX

• The Joker forces Harley to eat the Joker Fish in a black-and-white commercial even though she’s deathly allergic.

FOX

• Batman rides a giant shark like a sorority sister on a mechanical bull.

FOX

“Almost Got ‘Im” (1992)

• Gotham’s most wanted, the Joker, the Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc, meet up to play cards and discuss the “best” time they almost killed Batman. The best story belongs to Killer Croc, who tells the assembled bad guys and girl, “There I was, holed up in this quarry when Batman came nosing around. He was getting closer… I threw a rock at him!” The other villains blankly stare at him. “It was a big rock.”

FOX

• Anyway, the Joker. He and his gang take over a late-night talk show (with Harley as his announcer and bandleader, naturally). The special guest that night: the Dark Knight, who’s strapped to a Laugh-o-Meter. The harder the audience laughs, the more Batman gets zapped in the electric chair. The Joker games the system by pumping the set with enough laughing gas that “these yahoos will laugh at anything now, even the phone book.” While Harley (who later attempts to turn “Catwoman into cat food” — don’t ask) reads the phone book, the Joker cooks a sausage next to a juiced-up Batman.

FOX

• Remember Killer Croc’s story? Surprise! It wasn’t actually Killer Croc. It was Batman in a Killer Croc outfit. Alfred really outdid himself that week.

FOX

“The Man Who Killed Batman” (1993)

• Like Charlie, Sidney Debris is another Gotham nobody, but through a series of unfortunate events, he becomes the Man Who Killed Batman. Sid the Squid, as he’s later nicknamed, is thrown in prison until Harley — dressed as a lawyer — gets him out. The Joker wants to meet Sidney, mostly to see if he’s telling the truth. So the Joker stages a robbery, and when the Caped Crusader doesn’t show, he laments, “Without Batman, crime has no punchline.” None of that is the weird part — the Joker’s funeral for his arch-enemy is.

FOX

• Harley plays “Amazing Grace” on the kazoo at Batman’s funeral, which turns into Sid the Squid’s burial after the Joker locks him in a coffin that’s lowered into a large vat of acid. The Joker, with a single tear on his face, sadly takes a deep sigh, then cheerily adds, “Well, that was fun. Who’s for Chinese?”

FOX

• This episode also introduces the Joker’s most loyal sidekicks, Bud and Lou the hysterical hyenas. (Of course the Joker would have henchhyenas — the Penguin already owns the rights to the laughing kookaburra.) They pair really nicely with his chair.

FOX

“Harley and Ivy” (1993)

• “Harley and Ivy” is a nearly perfect half-hour of television, and the first time we see Harley away from the Joker. After getting literally thrown out the door by her Puddin’ over an altercation with Batman that, honestly, would have gone much worse if not for her quick thinking, Harley teams up with Poison Ivy. They take over Gotham and are dubbed the “New Queens of Crime” by the press. Catwoman isn’t invited, as seen by this refrigerator drawing.

FOX

• This episode isn’t so much weird as it is sad. Harley’s depicted as a victim of the Joker’s emotional and physical abuse. (Harley: “I am not a doormat… am I?” Poison Ivy: “If you had a middle name, it’d be Welcome.”) But there is one bonkers scene where a group of horny young men pull up next to Harley and Poison Ivy’s car and start catcalling the dangerous ladies. When Poison Ivy invokes the boys’ mothers, one of them says, “What are you going to do, spank us?” Nope, Harley shoots them with a bazooka instead.

FOX

“Trial” (1994)

• Gotham’s new District Attorney, Janet Van Dorn, is fed up with Batman. She claims that the Caped Crusader “creates” supervillains like the Joker and Poison Ivy because he acts outside the law, instead of letting the police do their job. In an “of course” twist of fate, Janet is also dating Bruce Wayne, and she’s kidnapped during a night out. When Batman goes to rescue her, he gets assaulted and heads to Arkham Asylum, where he’s put on trial. The impartial jury: the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, and Harley Quinn. That is a great, if totally bonkers, premise for an episode.

FOX

• After a stirring closing argument from Janet, who admits she had it at all wrong — Batman didn’t create the bad guys and girls of Gotham; they created him — the Scarecrow declares Batman “not guilty.” But Honorable Judge Joker says that because he and his ilk are so “rotten, vile, and depraved,” they’re going to electrocute Batman anyway. Democracy simply doesn’t work.

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• Batman in a straitjacket, the Joker as an Irish priest.

FOX

 “Harlequinade” (1994)

• Harley plays with a joker doll while locked inside a mental hospital.

FOX

• Batman takes Harley out of Arkham Asylum because he needs her help finding the Joker. After a visit to his vacant hideout, where Harley is reunited with her hyenas, she and Batman head to a mob party run by Boxy Bennett, who plans to kill the Dark Knight. Harley sings a little ditty called “Say That We’re Sweethearts Again” to distract the mobsters and give Robin enough time to free Batman. Let me say that again: Harley Quinn sings a demented song — sample lyric: “Life used to be so placid/Won’t you please put down that acid?/And say that we’re sweethearts again” — so Robin can rescue Batman, and she can be reunited with her Mr. J, who apparently threw acid at her. Batman: The Animated Series is wonderful, if supremely twisted.

FOX

• Harley thwarts the Joker’s plan to blow up Gotham — including her friends in Arkham and the hyenas — by knocking him out while he’s flying an airplane and firing aimlessly at a giant bomb. After the plane crashes, the Joker comes to, and is met by Harley, who’s furiously sticking a gun at him. He claims she doesn’t have the guts to pull the trigger; she does. (Batman and Robin look on, seemingly content with what Harley’s about to do.) Unfortunately (?), it’s a prop firearm. Harley’s terrified of what the Joker’s going to do to her. Instead, he laughs and says, in an ode to The Honeymooners, “Baby, you’re the greatest.” The end fades to black with a heart. I did not make any of that up.

FOX

“Harley’s Holiday” (1994)

• Harley is released from Arkham Asylum and she’s eager to show the world that she can be an honest, law-abiding citizen. She even carries around the document to prove it… as she’s led around Gotham by her pet hyenas.

FOX

• Of course, Harley immediately gets in trouble after a misunderstanding in a clothing store. She changes back into the nutso who got locked up in the first place, both literally (by putting her clown outfit back on) and figuratively. Harley steals a car and takes Veronica Vreeland hostage. When Veronica’s father, General Vreeland, hears what happened, he goes behind Commissioner Gordon’s back and borrows a tank to blow Harley up.

That seems excessive.

FOX

• Harley survives the tank attack, but Batman (with third wheel Robin) escorts her back to Arkham. She gives her captor a long smooch, which isn’t that weird (for Harley), but Batman doesn’t pull away, which is. Is he startled? Is he confused? Is he turned on? (He’s a little turned on.) Whatever the case, she could do better than Batman or the Joker. Give that Robin fellow a shot.

FOX

“Lock-Up” (1994)

• Harley barely appears in “Lock-Up” — named after Arkham Asylum’s Head of Security who gets fired for threatening and assaulting the inmates — but there’s a weird scene where the titular bad guy blames society’s problems on the “permissive, liberal media.” It’s one of the few overtly political statements in Batman: The Animated Series, or in any of the shows or movies until Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, especially The Dark Knight. And where was Harley when Heath Ledger’s Joker was blowing up hospitals?

Probably doing something vexing.

FOX

Warner

Suicide Squad director David Ayer spoke with Empire, who compiled their long interview into “17 things we learnt from David Ayer.” It was filled with spoilers and new little details, but we’re going to focus on the stuff about Jared Leto, the living embodiment of the HAM horn because daaaaaamn he’s edgy. So edgy that Ayer cut a bunch of his scenes because they were just too insane (according to Leto) or because they weren’t important to the main story (according to Margot Robbie).

Ayer cleared up some things about the Joker, like how he got those metal teeth, why he tattooed “damaged” on his forehead (other than because he’s just so edgy and it’s not a phase, mom!), and who really killed Robin (there’s been some confusion about whether Harley Quinn did it or if she was an accomplice).

“Joker killed Robin and Batman basically smashes his teeth out and locks him up in Arkham Asylum. It’s in the asylum where Joker would have done the ‘damaged’ tattoo as a message to Batman saying, ‘You’ve damaged me. I was so beautiful before and now you’ve destroyed my face.’ That’s where the grill comes from.”

Damn, why are people always wanting to destroy something beautiful?

Also, did you know Suicide Squad is an anarchic punk rock art movie? Well, it is! And it’s dark. So dark.

“The film is really the journey of the soul. I know this is going to provoke incredible howls of outrage, but it’s really this anarchic punk rock art movie. June Moone goes into this cave where she becomes possessed by this alter-ego that’s hypersexual and primitive and destructive and vengeful. Everybody who has to take her down experiences their own sort of ‘dark night of the soul’ as Enchantress offers up this fantasy reality where she can provide them with a false nirvana, false happiness. The film, in a lot of ways, is really about the splitting of the personality and addiction, and the dark side of the soul.”

Via Warner / ONTD

(Via Empire)

Suicide Squad may not have been a huge success with critics, but it still grossed over $465 million so far and broke records including a record-breaking opening night for August, a record-breaking opening weekend in August, the highest-grossing Monday and Tuesday in August, and an August record for Fandango ticket pre-sales. All that after reshoots and rumors of behind-the-scenes drama in the wake of Batman V Superman earning less than Warner expected.

There’s still a lot to speculate about, like what happened to all of Jared Leto’s scenes, that heady stuff that “changed him forever“? Director David Ayer said there were only ten minutes of deleted scenes, which may or may not have included the Joker, while Leto has said cutting down the scenes was “filtering all of the insanity” and Margot Robbie said those scenes just weren’t that important to the story.

To dig deeper into some of these rumors and deleted scenes, Mr. Sunday Movies — who already rounded up Suicide Squad Easter eggs — compiled speculation from several sources and quotes from the director and cast themselves. It touches on many things we’ve been hearing about, like multiple edits of the film resulting in the “dossier” version with the trippy character profiles added to tell the audience who’s who. David Ayer explained that version to Empire:

“There’s a linear version we did where it opens up with June in the cave and tells the story in sequence with the arrests and Batman, and then we go to Belle Reve. Honestly, there may be six or seven different versions of the film. In that version, [test] audiences were left with a lot of questions and a little disoriented as to who to watch and why. So we came up with what we call the ‘dossier’ version which has Amanda presenting the backstories and origins of the various members.”

That’s the same interview wherein Ayer called Suicide Squad an “anarchic punk rock art movie.” Sure.

Anyway, if you wanted to see one of the deleted scenes — the one where Joker slaps Dr. Harleen Quinzel — we spotted that one over a year ago. It’s probably for the best they didn’t keep it. I don’t want to see Margot Robbie getting beat up, but I would like to believe the film was an elaborate practical joke on Jared Leto, making him shave off his eyebrows and stay in character for nothing. Who’s laughing now?

(Via Mr. Sunday Movies and Empire)

Fox

Gotham season two ended with (spoiler) a busload of villains escaping from Arkham, including a Bruce Wayne lookalike, the previously-deceased Fish Mooney (resurrected by Hugo Strange), and the familiar-sounding laugh of proto-Joker Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan). The character supposedly died shortly after his introduction as a matricidal, patricidal, cackling carny in season two, but hints immediately emerged that he wasn’t going to stay dead, with Ben McKenzie talking about Jerome and Fish Mooney coming back and showrunner Bruno Heller dancing around the identity of the Joker.

But two new developments make it clear the character isn’t finished terrorizing Gotham yet. First, the actor tweeted this:

And we did this:

NBC

But it wasn’t just Monaghan having some wishful thinking. Fox is now being a little more direct about their will-they-or-won’t-they relationship with Jerome. During a press tour, executive producer John Stephens told Zap2it, “It is 100% our intention to bring Jerome back.”

And he was less vague about the Jokerish-ness of the character:

“We’re going to be playing it again this year and basically extending the idea of the cult of Jerome. […] You’ll have these underground movements that have started to talk about Jerome and what he represented and how he’s going to come back like in the days of John the Baptist.”

He went on to say Jerome wouldn’t come back until season four (if there is a season four), and there will continue to be “different versions of the Joker myth,” which is nothing new. Stephens also said the character “plays into the idea of transformation” and will be a “new version.” Presumably, the new version will be the same actor (Sorry, Clare) but even more bonkers.

It keeps sounding more and more like Monaghan was a better fit for the Joker than they expected, but the scripts using him as a misdirect and killing him off were already written, leaving the writer’s room to say, “Well, sh*t, how do we bring him back and give him a lot more scenes?” It’s a reverse Jared Leto, if you will.

(Via Zap2it and Cameron Monaghan)

Warner Bros.

Suicide Squad‘s behind the scenes drama, particularly as it relates to the totally twisted Clown Prince of Crime, continues to be more interesting than the actual movie. Jared Leto claims a lot of the Joker scenes were left on the cutting room floor. Were they too edgy for mainstream audiences? Nope. It was because, as Margot Robbie explained, “[Director David Ayer] probably realized that the emotional through-line of the story had to be the mission we were on, and kind of explaining The Enchantress’ position and all that kind of stuff.” An extra 10 minutes of Leto’s damaged mugging would have added nothing to Suicide Squad. That’s what the rumored Joker spinoff movie is for.

Who started the rumor? Jared Leto.

Anyway, despite his numerous complaints, Leto hasn’t actually seen Suicide Squad, which is like saying you hate caviar before even eating it. You know it’s going to be terrible, and it is terrible, but don’t knock something until you try it. Leto told the BBC that “I haven’t seen it,” to which the world replied, “Lucky.” The Oscar winner didn’t sound much happier at Camp Mars — yes, it’s a three-day Thirty Seconds to Mars summer camp “experience” — when someone asked if the studio made him agree to any contract stipulations, including not being able to go rock climbing. “Yes,” Leto replied, adding, “but my answer is: f*ck ’em.” He said that while wearing a tie dye shirt.

Here’s a summary of what else Leto revealed:

He was very honest about the film this weekend; his disappointment in what he’s learned of the theatrical cut (he’s still not seen the film); feeling sort of tricked into being a part of something that had been pitched to him very differently; thinking it would’ve been more artistic than what it became; feeling overwhelmed by the hate regarding the look and choices… (Via batman-news)

Suicide Squad is a $175 million blockbuster with a character named Killer Croc — Leto makes it sounds like he thought he was making a quaint indie. He wasn’t duped. Suicide Squad is exactly the movie we all thought it would be when the first images of the Hot Topic Joker were released last year, minus the campy fun. Maybe he’s the one who filed the false advertising lawsuit?

Now that would be twisted.

(Via Consequence of Sound and Batman News)

Fox

Gotham returns to Fox for its sure-to-be-bonkers third season this upcoming Monday at 8 p.m. EST. This season will introduce Vicki Vale, Solomon Grundy, the Tweedle Brothers, Talon (of the Court of Owls), and the Mad Hatter, as well as an aged-up Poison Ivy, a possible Harley Quinn, and the return of that Bruce Wayne lookalike and the previously-deceased Fish Mooney.

Speaking of previously-deceased characters, the show hinted at the return of proto-Joker character Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) in the season two finale. Monaghan also dropped hints on social media about returning, and now he’s posted a short audio clip of himself doing an awfully Joker-sounding laugh for a character who might not be the Joker.

And he didn’t even have to send sex toys to anybody to make that clip. (Where does Jared Leto get those wonderful toys?)

Ben McKenzie (who plays Jim Gordon) had already hinted at Jerome’s return, and Gotham executive producer John Stephens said it’s “100 percent our intention to bring Jerome back” although he might not make his official return until next year. This is fine. I’m fine.

In other Gotham news, Fox has released several new promos and a clip from the first episode of season three, starting with this clip of the Penguin warning everyone that Fish Mooney is back.

(Via Screen Rant, Cameron Monaghan, and Gotham)

Party City / Warner Bros.

If you aren’t following Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) on Twitter, you’re missing out on some actual fun on the platform. It’s not all outrage, browbeating, and trolling. There some actual fun to be had. Now he’s not the lead singer of Train, though I’m certain he and many others would jump at the opportunity, but he is keen on entertainment. Take the latest “investigation” that he and several other Twitter followers undertook involved a look at this year’s Halloween costume offerings.

There are plenty of offenders out there for the “worst” costume offered this season. Disney could’ve easily won with its Moana costume after many claimed it was pretty offensive to Pacific Islanders, something that forced Disney to pull the costume and issue a statement:

“The team behind Moana has taken great care to respect the cultures of the Pacific Islands that inspired the film, and we regret that the Maui costume has offended some,”

Or maybe it’s the Sexy Trump and Sexy Hillary Clinton costumes being offered in line with the other “sexy” costumes every other year. You can currently go to your next Halloween party as Donna T. Rumpshaker if you really wanted to — and had $70 bucks to spend.

But the true king, as evidenced by the Twitter hijinks earlier today, has got to be the variety that are offered for Jared Leto’s version of The Joker from Suicide Squad:

Now if you go search around Party City or other costume shops, you’ll see the Variety of offerings for Leto’s Joker and each one seems to be more misguided than the last. But where that fails and the models for the costumes have likely lost their will to live, the real heroes on Twitter have plenty of fodder for jokes:

And this one isn’t technically a costume, but there’s layers here. Layers upon layers upon layers, drizzled with donkey sauce.

Hard to top these costumes when it comes to worst of the season, but you could always hunt down another one. They are naturally terrible, so it’s easy. As for Monahan, you can usually catch him doing stand up in New York or dicking around on Twitter, threatening to delete pictures and frame Ted Cruz for crimes.

Getty Image

To recap, during the filming of Suicide Squad, Jared Leto reportedly stayed in character, answering only to “Mr. J” and never breaking character between scenes, growling at makeup artists, testing the laugh on strangers, and (of course) giving weird gifts to people. Much has been said about the gifts. There was the live rat given to Margot Robbie, a dead pig filled with bullets gifted to the squad, and the somehow-not-illegal gift of anal beads and used condoms in a rumor that was hopefully fake.

After all that ballyhoo — a role Leto says changed him forever (It’s not a phase, mom!) — most of his scenes were cut anyway, either because they were too insane or just not important enough, depending on whom you ask.

Oh, and somewhere along the way Leto also filmed a music video, in character as Joker, for the soundtrack’s “Purple Lamborghini” by Skrillex and Rick Ross. And now, in an interview with Complex, Skrillex revealed he was also on the receiving end of Jared Leto’s gifts to coworkers. And no, it wasn’t a snazzy coat.

Skrillex told Complex that Warner originally wanted him to do a music video using Suicide Squad footage, but he’s already friends with Jared Leto, so he suggested they do something unique together. Well, he got his wish. They made a video (below), and Leto gifted Skrillex with “the biggest dildo” he had ever seen “and a bunch of weird sh*t in a box.” Skrillex explained his reaction to Complex as, “I was just like, ‘Thank you.’ ”

It might be worth noting Leto has said he chose his gifts by thinking about “who that person is to you, what would they like?” So, when Leto thinks of a fitting gift for his buddy Skrillex, he thinks giant dildo? Anyway, here’s a music video.

(Via Complex)

Suicide Squad is getting its “Extended Cut” (but not a director’s cut, mind you) on digital HD this November 15th and on Blu-ray this December 13th. To promote the release, Warner Bros. gave the behind the scenes video above to Collider. And what else would it be about than Jared Leto’s edgelord Joker and his much-discussed Method acting? He reportedly stayed in character and gave numerous creepy gifts to the other actors (and to Skrillex). He even said he had so many deleted scenes they could be their own R-rated spin-off, bless his heart.

In the clip above, Leto talks about trying to do his own take on the character to “push the envelope,” while director David Ayer talks about saying goodbye to Leto:

“So during the process of figuring out the Joker and helping Jared create that character, I kinda had to say goodbye to Jared. There was a point when he went away and was replaced slowly and surely by the Joker. It was a fascinating process to watch. There was this really nice guy, a good guy with a lot of depth to him, he’s a very thoughtful person… the Joker is not someone you’d say is a really good guy.”

He’s so edgy, you guys. If you don’t understand how edgy, you soon will.

Via Twitter

(Via Collider and Twitter)

Suicide Squad will release its “Extended Cut” on digital HD this Tuesday and on Blu-ray December 13th. To promote the digital download, they’ve been releasing behind the scenes videos like this previous one about Jared Leto method acting the Joker (so edgy). The new video sees Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) talking about her scenes with Leto, many of which were cut because they were (according to Leto) too insane or because they were (according to Robbie) not the main story line.

Says Comics Alliance:

Leto and Robbie had not spent any time in rehearsal together, imbuing the scenes with a kind of nervous uncertainty that definitely comes across in the movie. Leto is doing his method actor thing while Robbie is trying to react as much as act; it’s an interesting collision of the two styles, and it just increases my appreciation for Robbie’s performance given what she had to work with.

That’s definitely a very different set up than the rest of the cast. As Robbie explains, her scenes with the rest of the “skwad” were heavily rehearsed, bringing them closer together. Director David Ayer has said those rehearsals involved a lot of opening up about their personal lives and having them punch each other because it “gets rid of a lot of the actor stuff.” Joel Kinnaman said there were a full month of rehearsals. That’s a lot of confessions and punching. Probably still less weird than doing an unrehearsed scene with Jared Leto going full method, though.

(Via Comics Alliance)

Warner Bros.

Batman nemesis and 2016’s Edgelord of the Year The Joker is getting the spotlight to himself in a future film. At least, that’s where things seem to be headed.

Deadline reports that a Joker spinoff film is in its early stages with some behind-the-scenes star power helping usher the motion picture to the big screen. The film is being designed as a showcase for The Joker’s origin story and is being used as a launching point for a set of films under a new WB/DC banner that will “expand the canon of DC properties and create unique storylines with different actors playing the iconic characters.” Sounds like a bit of a big deal.

Todd Phillips, director of Old School and The Hangover trilogy, is reportedly at the helm for the film and is co-writing the script. Martin Scorsese is said to be serving as a producer on the project, although The Hollywood Reporter claims the Scorsese connection is far from guaranteed.

According to Deadline, the vision for the movie is a “gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City.” Jared Leto’s still a go for his other Warner Bros. Joker commitments, but this particular take on the character is expected to be taken on by a different actor. Probably a younger one. So, uh, if you know a spare Joker conjurer kicking around please let Todd Phillips and Warner Bros. know. Folks can be pretty particular about how they like their Joker.

Does the prospect of Todd Phillips directing a Joker origin film put a smile on your face or fill your heart with worry? Weigh in with that kneejerk reaction in the comments and we can sort this out together.

(Via Deadline)

Warner Bros.

Two Joker-based movies in two days? What kind of fresh embrace of the Clown Prince of Crime is this? We just recently got the news that The Hangover director Todd Phillps would be tackling a Joker origin story (Red Hood?), now The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Warner Bros. is fast-tracking a standalone Joker/Harley Quinn movie that’s being described as a “criminal love story.” Margot Robbie will be back in the pigtails, and Jared Leto will be the edgelord you hate to love.

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who currently direct and write NBC’s This Is US and wrote and directed Crazy Stupid Love are being brought aboard to take the reigns of what might be a spiritual sequel to Natural Born Killers. Where else could this story go, really?

In terms of the DC cinematic universe, The Joker/Harley movie will fall in line with DC’s main line of Warner Bros. movies, which means it will follow Suicide Squad and the current crop of Batman V. Superman and Wonder Woman movies as part of the main storyline, while The Batman and other films will be outside the main mythology thread.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Joker and Harley story will be out before Suicide Squad 2.

Paramount Pictures

With all due respect to Billy Zane and Pamela Anderson, now seemingly every movie based on a comic book has to star a Hollywood A-lister. Will Smith? Suicide Squad. Jennifer Lawrence? X-Men: First Class. Ben Affleck? Justice League. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? Black Adam. But there are still some notable above-the-title holdouts, including Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, and Leonardo DiCaprio. But according to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is hoping to get The Revenant star for their upcoming The Joker film.

News broke last week that a Joker spinoff film (that has nothing to do with Jared Leto and Margot Robbie’s Joker film) is in the early stages of development. The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips is reportedly attached as a director and writer, while Martin Scorsese — yes, the same Oscar-winning director behind such all-time classics as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas — will serve as a producer. That’s where Leo comes in.

Sources say Warners will make an ambitious attempt to use Scorsese to bring Leonardo DiCaprio into the world of comic-book movies. Certainly, Scorsese’s involvement in The Joker film [could] elevate and diversify the studio’s contributions to the genre, creating the potential to make awards-worthy films such as Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy. (Via)

Of course, as THR notes, there’s no official offer to DiCaprio yet, and there’s also no guarantee he would say yes even if producers backed a dump truck full of money up to his house. But if the audition process involves busting out some sick dance moves to Prince, he’s got the role in the bag.

PARAMOUNT

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Warner Bros.

For Warner Bros. and DC Comics, it is all coming up Joker in the past few weeks. Despite Wonder Woman and Justice League leading the charge for 2017 in the DCEU, all eyes seem to be on the rumors connected to Joker and the possible spin-off films for the character. While discovering the origin of the character would be interesting and seeing more with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is warranted given the bit we saw in Suicide Squad, you do have to wonder if the Clown Prince of Crime would have the weight to carry a film. He is still supposed to be a villain, of course.

That said, it does seem like Warner is interested and that means Jared Leto should get another chance to go extremely method, possibly alienating his co-stars in the process. But he’s not alone. As we reported, Leonardo DiCaprio is rumored to be up for the other Joker origin film, A separate film without Leto’s Joker and with a far different tone considering the caliber of talent being rumored for the project. But reportedly DiCaprio’s name being attached to the Joker isn’t sitting well with Leto according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Insiders say Jared Leto, the actor who portrayed the Clown Prince of Crime in last summer’s Suicide Squad and is slated to reprise the character not just for a sequel but for another spinoff movie (with DC villainess Harley Quinn), was caught off guard by the plans. Leto is said to have made his displeasure with the notion of multiple Jokers known to his CAA agents, and rival agency WME has been using the concern to court him.

While both the DiCaprio rumor and Leto’s unhappiness are just reports, it would make sense that any actor would feel threatened if their role was already being recast or split off after only one film. From a fan perspective, having stand-alone DC Comics films alongside the main extended universe is just common sense. Also the idea of multiple Jokers fits in with the background set up in the comics, particularly in DC Rebirth. The Joker’s origins have always been “multiple choice” and representations of the character have changed over the years. Just like we’ve seen different versions in past Batman films, there’s no reason why this couldn’t happen with newer films.

We’ll just have to see if it is a sticking point for Leto going forward or if a little convincing can help calm any ill feelings. At this point, he still could end up playing the character in both films and make this a moot point. Until another actor, DiCaprio or someone else, signs up for the role, it’s just another rumor in the grinder.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

If it seems hard to pin down exactly where Warner Bros. is taking the DC Comics extended universe on the big screen, you’re not alone. Jared Leto was reportedly upset that there was talk of multiple Jokers running around in the upcoming Warner film release schedule. He had only just finished devouring the role and mailing the leftovers to his co-stars in Suicide Squad, only scratching the surface of where the character could go. Now with talk of the Todd Phillips Joker origin film with Martin Scorsese producing and Leonardo DiCaprio rumored for the title role, it seems that there could be a Joker competition brewing on the horizon.

Or it did before this interview with Jared Leto and 30 Seconds To Mars guitarist Tomo Miličević at the Destiny 2 launch event. After discussing their memorable VMAs appearance at the end of August, complete with the thermal imagery and Travis Scott, the chat turns to Leto’s DC Comics role and the confusing nature of Warner Bros. plans. As it turns out, he agrees that it is confusing but is also very relaxed about the role:

“I love the Joker,” Leto explained. “He’s a great character and really fun character to play. But it’s a big universe and when you play the Joker, there’s no ownership there. You have the honor of holding the baton for a little while and then passing it off.”

This couldn’t be further from the Leto we read about during the filming of Suicide Squad. That’s not to say his view on the character has changed or that he did claim ownership before giving it up. It’s more related to him sending people rats and used condoms, taking ownership without actually declaring it. Either way, it would seem he’s not too upset at the idea of someone else playing The Joker while he’s off in another film fooling around with Harley Quinn.

It should be interesting if we do end up with two Jokers running around at movie theaters. If method acting Jared Leto gets wild, you’d have to think the other actor playing The Joker — be it Leonardo DiCaprio or someone else — would get terrorized. It’ll be Stanley Kubrick calling Stephen King late at night about God all over again.

(Via Vulture / On Demand Entertainment)