Bad luck, Jared Leto. For all your tats and your taunts, you are no longer the newest Joker in town. And your film hasn’t even come out yet! No, assuming his final deal locks into place, Zach Galifianakis will be taking on the role of the iconic Batman villain –or his voice, at least, as he’s in negotiations to tackle the character in **Lego Batman{
The Lego Movie spin-off promises to cover as many aspects and eras of the Dark Knight’s legacy as it can squeeze into one movie’s running time. And, naturally, The Joker is part of that, since he’s the crazed ying to Batman’s entirely sensible and not-at-all-obsessed Bat-yang. Will Arnett is back voicing the caped crusader with Michael Cera recently signed to be Robin. We’re still hoping for an Arrested Development reunion with other members of the cast, even if we worry that should they all turn up in one place, Mitch Hurwitz will ambush them and force them to work on another season.
The people in charge of bringing the new film to life include Seth Grahame-Smith on script duty and Chris McKay, animation co-director/editor on Lego, directing. Franchise overlords Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are producing. Lego Batman will be with us on February 10, 2017.
Galifianakis, last seen in Birdman, has crime comedy Masterminds headed our way, though its planned October UK release may yet be imperilled by the collapse of original production company Relativity. He’s also worked on romantic drama **Tulip Fever **and is filming Keeping Up With The Joneses alongside Jon Hamm and Isla Fisher.