Suicide Squad fan to sue over lack of Jared Leto Joker scenes

A promotional picture of Jared Leto's Joker character in the Suicide Squad movie
Jared Leto as the Joker

A Suicide Squad fan is threatening to sue Warner Bros and DC Comics over the limited screen time given to Jared Leto’s Joker.

The Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman previously admitted there are enough deleted Joker scenes to make a full movie – but Reddit user BlackPanther2016 is legal action against the studio, insisting that teasing Joker scenes in trailers which weren’t included in the final film amounts to “unjust false advertising.”

The movie goer says the cinema denied a request for a refund after claiming they drove 300 miles from Scotland to London and spent £160 on fuel to watch “specific scenes explicitly advertised in TV ads” which never featured. BlackPanther2016 willl file the lawsuit tomorrow (August 11) with help from a “lawyer” brother.

The fan says: “Suicide Squad trailers showcased several specific Joker scenes that I had to pay for the whole movie just so that I can go watch those specific scenes that Warner Bros/DC Comics had advertised in their trailers.

“These scenes are: when Joker banged his head on his car window, when Joker says ‘Let me show you my toys’, when Joker punches the roof of his car, when Joker drops a bomb with his face all messed up and says, ‘Bye bye!’ None of these scenes were in the movie.

“I wasted a lot of money paying and travelling to go watch this movie because of these specific scenes they had advertised to me and all of us saying. If you advertise something, give me what you have advertised. Period.

“This is becoming a habit with movie studios – showing epic scenes in trailers, but they’re never shown in the movies. It’s unjust. All lies.

“I told the theatre about this unjust act and said I didn’t get what I came here to see, and asked, ‘Can I have my money back?’ They laughed at me and kicked me out. So I’m now taking this to court.

“I want my refund, the trauma of being embarrassed as I was being kicked out and people laughing at me for wanting my refund, and also the £160 of fuel money I used to drive to London from Scotland.”

BlackPanther2016 has also launched a petition, pushing Warner Bros to refund all other movie goers who felt “robbed” after seeing Suicide Squad due to “false advertising.”

BlackPanther2016 adds: “Let’s stop this nonsense of false bullshittery. Don’t let them bribe you with their ‘deluxe premium special directors gold extended edition supreme cut” nonsense. You should get what they advertised as their first theatre showing and what you have paid for based on what they have showed you in their advertisements.”

Movie trailers are often produced long before the film is completed, meaning changes to the final product are common. It is unlikely that the case would progress in court without evidence that shows any deliberate defrauding of fans.

Meanwhile, Thirty Seconds To Mars recently teased their return with a preview clip for the follow-up to 2013’s Love, Lust Faith and Dreams. They’ll lead their second annual Camp Mars mini-festival in Malibu, California this weekend.

10 reasons Suicide Squad will kick ass

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.