The Suicide Squad - Suicide Mission: that's why Joker won't be there
The Suicide Squad - Suicide Mission
It has long been known that several of David Ayer's Suicide Squad cast members would not return to star in The Suicide Squad, written and directed by James Gunn (the author of Guardians of the Galaxy), which will arrive in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6. Among the characters who would not return there is also Joker and, apparently, the reason behind this choice is more trivial than one might think.James Gunn himself reveals the reason in a interview granted to the New York Times.
Why Joker will not participate in The Suicide Squad - Mission Suicide
The Suicide Squad - Mission Suicide will not see the presence of Joker simply because James Gunn does not he found a good reason to put it in the story.“I don't know why Joker should be part of this Suicide Squad. He wouldn't have been helpful in that kind of situation, which is basically a war zone. I wanted to create my idea of Suicide Squad. If I had copied David's film ideas I would have made this film the shadow of David's film. Instead I wanted this to be a completely separate project. "
Basically when Warner Bros. commissioned The Suicide Squad - Mission Suicide James Gunn gave him carte blanche, so he didn't have to bring all old characters from The Suicide Squad back to the set, and Joker seems not be suitable for this new movie.
About The Suicide Squad - Mission Suicide
The Suicide Squad - Mission Suicide promises to give life to a crazy, profane and unpredictable race full of characters that they are loved and hated, or a little of both.The film, arriving in US theaters on August 6, will star Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Viola Davis as the head of the Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller, Michael Rooker, Idris Elba, Daniela Melchior and Sylvester Stallone.
Here is the synopsis of the film:
Welcome to hell, that is to Belle Reve, the prison with the highest death rate in the United States, where the worst supervillains are locked up, who will do anything to get out of it - even join the super secret and obscure Task Force X. The motto of the day is 'Go or break it': get together a number of scammers, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and the most beloved psycho of all, Harley Quinn. Then arm themselves heavily and drop (literally) on the remote island of Corto Maltese, full of enemies. Venturing into a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerilla forces, the Squad will be involved in a search and destruction mission, under the leadership of Colonel Rick Flag on the ground ... and the directives of Amanda Waller's government tech experts in the ears, who they follow their every move. And as always, with every false move they risk death (at the hands of their opponents, a teammate or Waller herself). If you want to bet on it, the payoff is against them.
While waiting for the movie, get the Suicide Squad Blue-Ray on Amazon!
James Gunn Further Explains Why The Suicide Squad Didn’t Include Jared Leto’s Joker
Published: Jul. 15. 2021 1:39 PM
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The movies are officially back, with studios releasing long-awaited blockbusters this summer for the big screen. One of the most highly anticipated of these projects is James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, with the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker making his DC debut in the R-rated movie. And Gunn recently went into more detail about why the movie didn’t include Jared Leto’s Joker.
The Suicide Squad is an interesting project because its a sequel/reboot to David Ayer’s 2017 original. That movie featured the debut of Jared Leto’s Joker, although much of his footage was left on the cutting room floor. Gunn previously gave one reason why Mr. J wasn’t included in his movie, and he’s expanded his thoughts, saying:
I just don’t know why Joker would be in the Suicide Squad. He wouldn’t be helpful in that type of war situation.
Well, that was simple. It looks like Amanda Waller simply wouldn’t have a reason to include Jared Leto’s Joker in the mission for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. And as such, the Clown Prince of Crime was once again left out of a new installment of the DC Extended Universe.
James Gunn’s comments come from an interview with The New York Times ahead of the release of The Suicide Squad. The visionary filmmaker opened up about his career and experience joining the DCEU for the first time. And while Gunn assembled a massive cast of familiar faces to bring his version of Task Force X together, he simply had no use for Jared Leto’s Joker.
As it hits theaters, The Suicide Squad will also be available on HBO Max. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.
Prior to this new interview, James Gunn cited DC comics for Joker’s absence in The Suicide Squad. Because while Harley has been on Task Force X for years, Batman’s arch nemesis isn’t really a team player. And considering Gunn was putting the movie’s villains into a literal war zone, it didn’t make sense to have Jared Leto back to reprise his role.
As previously mentioned, Jared Leto had a somewhat controversial presence in David Ayer’s original Suicide Squad. Some criticized his performance, although Ayer has been open about how Warner Bros. eviscerated his original vision and cut most of Joker’s scenes. Leto eventually reprised his role for the Snyder Cut’s Knightmare sequence, but hasn’t had a meaty role in a DC movie since.
The Suicide Squad is currently set to arrive in theaters on August 6th. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Double majored in theater and literature during undergrad. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his famous actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid.
