If you were still holding out hope that Jared Leto would return as the Joker, you can stop now. James Gunn made the decision for you. The first episode of Peacemaker season 2 doesn’t just hint at it—it puts a giant neon sign above it: Jared Leto’s Joker is done. Forever.
The signs are everywhere. John Cena’s Peacemaker casually mentions he doesn’t like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto’s real-life band. Jennifer Holland (Gunn’s wife) agrees with him. Then, just in case you missed the joke, Gunn doubles down with a post-credit scene making the same point. Three digs in one episode. It’s over. Jared Leto’s time with the DC Universe is up!
This isn’t entirely surprising given the history between Gunn and Leto. Back in 2018, when Dylan Sprouse called out Leto’s pattern of pursuing women aged 18–25, Gunn replied with the infamous, “He starts at 18 on the Internet?” He’d already made remarks about Leto on Periscope years earlier, which he later deleted, and more recent allegations against Leto only added fuel to the fire. So, while Gunn is happily bringing back Jason Momoa (this time as Lobo) and maybe even Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, there’s no room at the table for Leto’s Clown Prince in Peacemaker or any other DC property.
It’s wild to think how much hype there was when David Ayer cast Jared Leto in Suicide Squad back in 2016. Coming off an Oscar win, he felt like a strong choice to follow Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning turn in The Dark Knight. Then that first picture dropped. Remember the tattoos, the metal teeth, the “damaged” forehead? Yeah, the internet groaned. I’ll admit, I defended it at the time, saying maybe the movie would explain the look. But it didn’t.
The movie made money but felt butchered in the editing room. Most of Leto’s footage was cut, leaving behind a Joker who appeared more like Harley’s clingy boyfriend than Gotham’s most unpredictable menace. Leto swore he filmed enough material for an entire movie, and he probably did. But all we got was a bizarre, fragmented performance that made his tattoos and bling look even more like cosplay choices than storytelling decisions.
Every Joker before him, from Jack Nicholson to Ledger, left a mark. Even Barry Keoghan’s blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in The Batman generated buzz. Leto, on the other hand, ended up in the George Clooney category. Memes piled up. His method acting antics (sending rats and used condoms to his co-stars) didn’t help either.
To make matters worse, Warner Bros. greenlit Todd Phillips’ Joker with Joaquin Phoenix not long after. Leto reportedly tried to kill the project before it got off the ground. It didn’t work. Phoenix won an Oscar in 2020 for his performance, cementing himself as the definitive Joker of this generation, while Leto sat on the sidelines, his purple Lamborghini collecting dust.
And now, in 2025, it’s official. Leto won’t be coming back. The fans don’t want him. Warner Bros. certainly doesn’t need him (even if Joker: Folie à Deux was a disaster that somehow managed to perform worse than Morbius and The Marvels at the box office). And James Gunn definitely doesn’t want Jared Leto back as Joker or any other character in the DCU.
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