The 2019 Todd Phillips-directed Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, has rightfully earned massive financial and critical success after its release. It was hard to think an actor could match up to Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the supervillain, but Phoenix proved us wrong. We were all excited to see the new film and Phoenix’s reiteration. Well, not all of us. Jared Leto was one of the few who wasn’t too happy about this new Joker film and he tried to stop it from happening.

DC doesn’t have the best track record of keeping the same actors for too long. We’re always getting a new Batman or Joker every three or four years. Soon after news erupted of Robert Pattinson replacing Ben Affleck as Batman, DC and Warner Bros’ announced a new standalone Joker film, and Jared Leto wasn’t going to play the part. Joaquin Phoenix was their new choice, and that naturally irked Leto.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Leto complained to his agents about Warner Bros abruptly casting a new actor for a role he thought he was still playing. The report also added that he approached his music manager, Irving Azoff, to contact WB’s parent company to supposedly cancel the film. Azoff neither confirmed nor denied these reports and has since stopped working with Leto.

The Hollywood Reporter also mentioned their sources told them that WB wasn’t completely happy with Leto’s excessive antics on and offset. He took his role a little too seriously and sent Margot Robbie a live rat and sent a box of bullets to Will Smith. It was confirmed earlier this year that Leto won’t be seen in the upcoming Margot Robbie-starrer Birds of Prey as well as the James Gunn’s sequel to Suicide Squad.

While it’s safe to say Leto is out of the picture completely and probably won’t be working with DC again, his Morbius film with Marvel is still a go. It is expected to come out on July 31, 2020.