Saturday, April 25, 2015

First official look at Jared Leto's Joker – grill, tattoos, and ready to bruise

After weeks of teases and speculation, David Ayer posted the first official image of Jared Leto as The Joker in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. It's certainly a unique interpretation of the character.

Probably the biggest question on fans' minds when Leto's casting was announced was, "How is he going to set his take on the character apart from Heath Ledger's turn as The Joker in 'The Dark Knight'"? Ledger, whose own casting was controversial back in 2007, surprised audiences with an instantly classic performance as the Clown Prince of Crime. That, along with the actor's sudden death before the film's release, made the idea of another actor stepping into the role seem almost unthinkable.

Now, seven years after "The Dark Knight", we have our first glimpse at the new Joker. See the full image after the jump.


Tattoos and metal teeth are good way to make anyone stand out, even a guy with green hair and chemically bleached skin. There are things about this that I really love. The absolute mania in his eyes is fantastic. It's an aspect of the character that hasn't quite been translated to the big screen. I might even argue that the closest we've seen to an actor embodying that kind of energized volatility is the Cesar Romero version in the '66 Batman movie (If you don't count Mark Hamill's voice work in "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm").

The tattoos and grill I'm a bit more reserved about. My initial thought was that I just can't imagine The Joker sitting down and letting someone tattoo him, but I have no idea what Leto and Ayer have in store for the character. Maybe it'll make perfect sense in the context of the film. Maybe Harley gave him those tattoos?

We'll have to wait until Suicide Squad is released on August 16, 2016, to find out.

3 comments:

  1. I have mixed feelings about Leto's Joker. A part of me likes the tattoos- it is something I think could be interesting, and I agree with you about the manic look in his eyes - super awesome! However, where is the iconic big/warped "smile" we are so used to seeing with the Joker? I don't think adding a grill will give him the kind of serial,scary, and wicked grin that I am used to associating with this character. But, I am going to keep an open mind - who knows, Leto may surprise us all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm with Emma on this one. Something just isn't sitting quite right, and I really think it comes down to the fact that it feels like they're trying to hard. The Joker is at his most disturbing when he looks the most put together because then his crazy clashes with his style. This guy looks like he just took a dip into a vat of LSD after leaving a super shady tattoo parlor, and is about to have a meltdown, not a murder spree. We'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is definitely a different look, but when someone tries to do a character like the Joker, I am always excited to see how it turns out. Ledger did such a good job that I hope it doesn't overshadow what Leto does.

    ReplyDelete