Your Guide to the Surprising Number of Joker Movies Coming Out

Phoenix is starring in a gritty origin story about Batman's archenemy, the Joker, and it looks equal parts terrifying and tragic. This time around, we meet failed stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) long before being bullied by society drives him down a path of destruction. According to the studio, Joker's story will pick up with the character in Gotham City in the early 1980s prior to his life as a criminal mastermind, resulting in an "exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale."

Phoenix stars in the film alongside Zazie Beetz as a single mother who Arthur gets close to, Frances Conroy as Arthur's mother, and Robert De Niro as a talk-show host who has a hand in driving Arthur toward a life of crime. The film will arrive in theaters in October.

Leto originally played the Joker in 2016's much-maligned critical disaster Suicide Squad, which left fans shocked and annoyed by how little the iconic villain appears in the antihero team-up film despite being featured heavily in its marketing campaign. Now, the Oscar winner is moving forward at Warner Bros. with the untitled stand-alone project as both star and executive producer. The plot is still pretty murky at this point, but it's obvious that the studio aims to expand the universe mapped out in Suicide Squad and create future opportunities for spinoffs.

The cast for Suicide Squad 2 is shaping up, and so far it looks like it includes Leto's Joker, as well as Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Idris Elba's Deadshot (he's taking over from Will Smith). James Gunn has written the sequel, but other plot details or a premiere date have yet to be unveiled.

A rom-com about this couple? Seriously? Yes — seriously. Warner Bros. brought Crazy Stupid Love filmmakers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa on board to bring a film revolving around a romance between the murderous maniacs to the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter shared that the resulting script is being described as "an insane and twisted love story . . . When Harry Met Sally on benzedrine."

If you were able to make it through all of Suicide Squad, then you likely already know the backstory between the pair that was teased: Harley Quinn was originally a psychologist at Arkham Asylum where the Joker was being held, but ended up falling for him. To prove just how in love she was, she even dove into a vat of acid. (Suddenly getting ghosted doesn't seem so bad, huh?)

Updates about the film have been scant, but it's still presumably in production and will likely see Robbie and Leto reprising their roles as the characters.

Robbie's long-gestating Birds of Prey is billed as a team-up film between female villains. The star-studded cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Chris Messina, and so far an appearance from Leto hasn't been discussed. Still, we wouldn't put it past Robbie to sneak a cameo from the character into her film, given the nature of Harley Quinn and the Joker's relationship.