Why so serious about doubling down on Jokers, WB?

According to Variety, Warner Bros. is planning to give Jared Leto his own standalone Joker movie. Leto will both star in and executive produce the movie, which has yet to be titled, branching off from his (surprisingly) limited role in "Suicide Squad."

This is in addition to -- not instead of -- the Joker origin movie Todd Phillips is still said to be working on, with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. That film is being produced under a new banner separate from the DC Extended Universe, to which Jared Leto's Joker is part, along with Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, Ben Affleck's Batman, Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa's Aquaman, etc.

This is also in addition to the announced sequel to "Suicide Squad," which Variety said is expected to go into production in 2019.

This Joker standalone is currently searching for a writer, and it's not clear when it would start filming. It's also not clear what the movie would be about, but it should connect to "Suicide Squad" or the sequel in some way.

Variety added that the plan is to "expand on the world created by 'Suicide Squad' and tie into future installments of that property." That includes this Joker standalone, and also Harley Quinn's own "Birds of Prey" movie, which may or may not feature Penguin.

As we all know by now, DC/WB news tends to be fluid, so let's wait and see what happens.

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