Variety reports some interesting news this afternoon, revealing that Warner Bros. is moving forward with plans to bring Jared Leto‘s interpretation of The Joker back to the big screen. Leto became the latest to wear the makeup in 2016’s Suicide Squad, although Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn stole the show. Sources tell the site that Leto is set to star and exec produce an untitled standalone film, paving the way for future movies branching from Suicide Squad. Warner Bros. already announced that Robbie’s Harley Quinn would be getting her own movie with a Birds of Prey feature.
This move may seem a bit confusing as Warner Bros. is already developing a Joker film with Todd Phillips, although that’s being pegged as an origin story under a new “origins” banner that would be separate from the current cinematic DC universe. This new banner would allow multiple actors and versions based on the same character with no overlap, and WB has already tapped Joaquin Phoenix to star in Phillips’ Joker pic.
It’s currently unknown when this film would go into production, as Leto and the studio will now search for a writer. It’s also unclear if this film would shoot before or after the previously announced sequel to Suicide Squad, which is believed to go into production sometime in 2019.