‘Suicide Squad’ Beats Out Competition on Social Media; Jared Leto Talks Playing the Iconic DC Villain Joker, Calls it “Role of a Lifetime”

‘Suicide Squad’ trumps competition on various social media platforms. Jared Leto, who plays the newest Joker on the big screen, discussed playing the iconic DC Villain. He referred to it as the “role of a lifetime”.

According to Comicbook.com, David Ayer’s upcoming installment in the DC extended universe of films is currently beating out competing new releases such as ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ on social media platforms. The highly anticipated live-action adaptation of the notorious DC villains-turned-antiheroes has been generating a lot of social media buzz ahead of its scheduled August 5 release this year. Numerous promotional materials such as behind-the-scenes featurettes, footage, posters, and a music video helped boost audience awareness of the new film.

Ayer recently confirmed that the new film’s post-production was finally completed. The filmmaker announced that news on Twitter on June 24. His tweet read, “Squad is completed! Finished final mix and coloring. Now it's off to the lab and then the world. Nothing like it out there. It.Is.a.Beast.”

It was also revealed that ‘Suicide Squad’ will run for 130 minutes – or 2 hours and 10 minutes - including credits, according to Collider. This places it at the same runtime as Marvel’s ‘Iron Man 3’.

Preceding films in the DCEU, namely Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’, stayed within the 150 minute limit. The films were criticized for having unnecessary scenes that would have been better edited out.

Meanwhile, Leto is all set to portray the iconic DC villain in the new film, following in the footsteps of past Joker actors Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. During an interview with Deadline, Leto expressed his gratitude at the opportunity of taking over the role.

When asked about his experiences filming the project as the new Joker, he replied, “Aww, it was a role of a lifetime. Really, it was an incredible honor to be asked to play the part.” He added, “Look, there have been so many incredible performances of the Joker over the years. Then there’s the wonderful artists that have drawn this character and the writers that have written the Joker for 75 years and more through television and film and animated projects. I found it a real honor to be asked to continue the tradition. I’m so grateful that I had the chance, that’s my honest answer and my thoughts on it.”

The Academy Award-winning actor and singer-songwriter teased, “You can anticipate a lot of chaos and a hell of a lot of fun. And, I think, something completely different than other movies in the genre.”

‘Suicide Squad’ is an upcoming action-fantasy film based on the DC comics team of the same name. It is directed by David Ayer and stars Leto, Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis, and Joel Kinnaman.

It is produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle and co-produced by Andy Horwitz and Alex Ott. Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Colin Wilson, and Geoff Johns are executive producing.