Comic book film fans were both thrilled and stunned when they learned that Marvel director James Gunn will be helming the "soft reboot" of The Suicide Squad over at the DC Extended Universe. The film is set for release in a couple of weeks but the early critic reviews have been generally positive. However, some people are curious about Joker's conspicuous absence in the film and the character wasn't even mentioned in the film's teasers.
Apparently, it was done on purpose and James admitted that he had no interest in bringing back Jared Leto's Clown Prince of Crime for the project. In a recent conversation with the New York Times, the Guardians of the Galaxy director revealed that Warner Bros. gave him the freedom to choose which characters he'd like to put in his Suicide Squad roster, and surprisingly enough, Joker wasn't one of them.
Gunn explains: "I just don't know why Joker would be in the Suicide Squad. He wouldn't be helpful in that type of war situation. I wanted to create what I thought of as the Suicide Squad. For me to react to David's movie would make it the shadow of David's movie. I wanted it to be its own thing completely."
Also Read: The Suicide Squad Official Trailer Proves that It's the Goriest DCEU Project Yet
While it's yet to be confirmed, it's safe to assume that The Suicide Squad takes place following the events of Birds of Prey so of course, putting Joker in the mix wouldn't make sense storywise considering he and Harley are no longer an item in the DCEU. And let's be real here, Joker isn't part of the Squad in the comics anyway so yeah, as much as I'd like to see Leto reprise the role, he's not needed in the film. Would I be down with the idea of him and Harley reuniting in a project? Absolutely yes!
The Suicide Squad hits cinemas and HBO Max on August 5.
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