Jared Leto Has Shared the Screen with 3 Different Batman Actors (So Far)
Since the mid-1990s, Jared Leto has starred in a wild assortment of movies. The Oscar-winning actor popped up in some of the most controversial films of all time with Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream. And of course, Leto’s real-life behavior has often made headlines. But it’s hard to deny how ubiquitous the Dallas Buyers Club actor has become. After all, Leto has worked with at least three actors who turned in memorable performances as Batman.
Jared Leto appeared with Ben Affleck in the DC Extended Universe
The most obvious Batman actor Leto shared the screen with is Ben Affleck. The Joker to Affleck’s Batman, Leto first appeared in Suicide Squad along with Affleck. In that film, Batman appears during a flashback sequence with Deadshot (Will Smith) and a chase sequence in which he pursues Joker and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).
But Leto and Affleck finally have some direct interaction in 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Though Affleck appears throughout, Leto reprises his role in the post-apocalyptic “Knightmare” scene toward the end. Thus far, Leto’s Joker is the only version of the character currently existing within the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).
The actor appears with ‘Batman’ actor Michael Keaton in ‘Morbius’
For the 2022 film Morbius, Leto makes his Marvel movie debut. The film is a standalone release featuring the actor as Dr. Michael Morbius, who become an enemy of Spider-Man in the comics. Known as a “living vampire,” Morbius is the second such character to lead his own film after Tom Hardy turned Venom into a breakout hit in 2018.
And by the looks of it, Morbius will build up to a Sinister Six team-up featuring a familiar face. As revealed by the film’s marketing, Michael Keaton reprises his Marvel role as the Vulture. Of course, Keaton previously played Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 film and its 1992 sequel. He’s also set to play the Dark Knight in 2023’s DCEU entry The Flash.
But first he had a bloody time with Christian Bale in ‘American Psycho’
In addition to his roles opposite Batman actors in superhero films, Leto has at least one more Bat-star on his list. Way back in 2000, Leto played Paul Allen, a doomed colleague of Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) in American Psycho. In Leto’s most memorable scene, a drunken Paul visits Patrick’s apartment, where he is murdered while Huey Lewis and the News’ “Hip to Be Square” plays in the background.
American Psycho doesn’t just mark Leto’s first brush with an actor tied to the Batman role. It’s also the film that played a direct role in Christopher Nolan casting Bale for Batman Begins. It’s also gone on to become a cult classic for not only Bale’s performance but also its incisive social commentary.
