The DCEU has finally found its footing, and few movies have us more excited for the future than David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. While we could spend hours talking about any one of the titular team’s members, the one character that has grabbed our attention and refused to let go is Jared Leto’s Joker. He’s a villain with a rich history on the screen as well as on the page, so we’re left wondering what Leto will do to set himself apart.
Jared Leto himself seems to understand the expectations for the character, and has assured Comingsoon.net that Suicide Squad will do something very different.
I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about that so much. But we walked in a completely new direction. I think we knew that we had to do that. It was important to do that. When the Joker has been done and done so well, it gives you a bit of an indication of where you shouldn’t go. There’s a bit of a map there. That’s the good part about it.
Jared Leto seems to fully understand just how many times this character has been done on film. In their efforts to craft something entirely new, Jared Leto and Suicide Squad director David Ayer endeavored to try and take the path less travelled. As intriguing as Jared Leto’s statement is, it doesn’t provide us with much insight as to the nature of his Joker; the guy remains a complete mystery. Although we have seen numerous versions of The Joker in live-action, it doesn’t compare to the innumerable iterations that have popped up in print over the years. An ungodly number of fan theories have started to become visible all around the internet, ranging from "The Joker is Jason Todd," to the idea that he is based on the Joker from Batman: Endgame. And yet we’re still no closer to really knowing anything about him.
Of course, despite all these claims that The Joker is different from what we’ve seen before, it’s nice to know that certain elements remain consistent with what we know and love. Based solely on the trailers, it’s abundantly clear that Leto’s take on the character will remain the sadistic and flamboyant character that we have come to expect. Some people have been somewhat rubbed the wrong way by the changes made to his aesthetic (i.e tatoos and metal teeth) but we think that these changes could make for a wholly different cinematic experience than what we're used to. It's like Leto says: they're using what we love about the charcter as a "road map," but striking out in a new direction.
Whether or not Jared Leto actually does something truly different with the Clown Prince of Crime remains to be seen. All eyes will be on him when Suicide Squad blasts its way into theaters later this summer on August 5.
