Jared Leto gets movie villain role

Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman and Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto will play classic DC Comics villain the Joker in upcoming movie Suicide Squad, it’s been confirmed.

He’ll appear alongside Will Smith, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney and Cara Delevinge.

Warner Bros president Greg Silverman says his firm’s “roots are deep” in the project. He adds: “David Ayers returns with his incredible ability to craft multidimensional villains to this iconic DC property.

“We look forward to seeing the terrific ensemble, under Ayer’s guidance, give new meaning to what it means to be a villain and what it means to be a hero.”

Suicide Squad is set for release on August 5, 2016. Leto and 30STM split with their record label in April this year, with the frontman describing their freedom as “the most wonderful place to be.” They recently launched a web series based on their Into The Wild world tour and completed a US tour with Linkin Park.

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.