Warner Bros.
While everyone who has gone to see Joker has nothing but praise for the transcendent performance from Joaquin Phoenix, there is one person out there that is likely cursing Phoenix’s name every time it’s mentioned, and that’s Academy Award-winner Jared Leto.
You see, while Phoenix is busy reaping in the plaudits for his masterful performance as Arthur Fleck, Leto — who infamously played an absolutely trash version of the Clown Prince of Crime in Suicide Squad — can’t help but wonder why he didn’t rack in that same sort of acclaim.
According to a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy Award-winning Leto was left feeling “alienated and upset” by the greenlighting of the Phoenix Joker project.
Sure, Leto got the raw end of the deal when it came to his usage in Suicide Squad — word on the block has long been that Leto was pitched one type of role only for his Joker part to result in something entirely different — but that doesn’t change the fact that his version of Joker is arguably the worst to ever been portrayed on the big or small screen.
Seriously, just watch these clips and try not to cringe right out of your fucking skin:
With the rampant success of Joker — which is breaking all sorts of box office records and will likely result in a bevy of award nominations — it’s quite possible (fingers crossed) that we’ve seen Leto portray the Joker for the last time.
As for who will eventually appear as Joker in Robert Pattinson’s upcoming Batman franchise, that’s anyone’s guess.
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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Contact him on Twitter @eric_ital or via email eric@brobible.com