Just over 24 hours after Warner Bros. announced that it was developing a Joker spin-off movie that would exist outside of the established DC Extended Universe canon—and would therefore not feature Jared Leto reprising his Joker role from Suicide Squad—the studio has come back to announce a second Joker movie that will focus on the relationship between him and Harley Quinn, with Leto and Margot Robbie reprising their roles from Suicide Squad. Just to make that clear, this is not the movie that Martin Scorsese might produce and Todd Phillips might direct; this is a different movie that happens to come from the same studio and features the same comic book character, but with the actor from a previous movie coming back to play him.
It seems like the plan here is to emphasize the offbeat romance angle, with The Hollywood Reporter revealing that it’s being billed as a “criminal love story”—even though most DC fans know that Harley Quinn is much more interesting when she kicks her abusive boyfriend to the curb. The Hollywood Reporter story also says that Crazy Stupid Love directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are in “final negotiations” to write and direct the movie. It sounds like Leto and Robbie are officially on board, and THR also notes that this project is “further along” than the other Joker movie, at least according to an unnamed source.
It’s probably also important to point out that this is separate from Suicide Squad 2, which will probably put a heavy focus on the relationship between the Joker and Harley Quinn. So, to recap, this is not yesterday’s Joker movie or the Suicide Squad sequel, this is a completely different movie that features the same character.