Presenting… Jared Leto’s Joker. Probably not what you were expecting, huh? Here’s the full image of the Suicide Squad’s take on the Joker, tweeted earlier today by David Ayer, its director.
The Suicide Squad wishes you a Happy Anniversary Mr. J! #Joker75 #SuicideSquad @WarnerBrosEnt @DCComics pic.twitter.com/LZXz0x947Q
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 25, 2015
Though it only shows part of the overall costume, there’s already a ton to analyse here. The forehead tattoo. The grills. The expression. Cynically, it feels like someone who is out of touch tried to come up with something edgy, and this is the result.
But, that’s just my take on it. What’s the internet saying about the new design? Overall, most people are poking fun at the design. People seem to think the design looks silly. And maybe there was nothing Ayer could have revealed that wouldn’t have been met with scepticism; Heath Ledger is a tough act to follow. Still, if nothing else, there’s always the possibility that the acting will make everyone change their minds. It’s too early to make judgement!
For now, though, there are jokes:
oh wow I can tell this version of the Joker is a real bad dude because his origin story involves falling into a vat of hot topic
— Brock Wilbur (@brockwilbur) April 25, 2015
When you forget about an auto-renew subscription pic.twitter.com/ALIk65Rhv1
— Ludwig Kietzmann (@LudwigK) April 25, 2015
I need to see the suit. This is a take that could work. Trying to do Ledger’s Joker wasn’t going to work.
— M.H. Williams (@AutomaticZen) April 25, 2015
Also Jared Leto’s Joker shaves his armpits???
— Michael McWhertor (@MikeMcWhertor) April 25, 2015
Wait so Jared Leto is playing Ninja from Die Antwoord playing Joker?
— Spencer Hayes (@SPNKr) April 25, 2015
Everyone at Marvel just high-fived, happy to find they no longer have the worst comic book movie press this week! #JuggaloJoker
— Brian Collins (@BrianWCollins) April 25, 2015
Jared Leto as the Joker pic.twitter.com/vIGXhuJJrB
— Chulsssss (@ameerulaffiq) April 25, 2015
alright definitely drinking to forget jaret leto’s new joker reveal tonight.
— Hector Gonzalez (@hekturr) April 25, 2015
As long as the Joker behaves like a fucking lunatic, all will be forgiven.
— Michael O’Brien (@MikeObrienFilm) April 25, 2015
https://twitter.com/BPayton216/status/591772376154648576
The new Joker look is pretty awful. What the hell were they thinking?
— Jeff (@ecksonik) April 25, 2015
To be fair to the Joker design, this guy would definitely freak me the hell out.
— Haleigh Foutch (@HaleighFoutch) April 25, 2015
“So Jared, what’s your vision for the new Joker?” “Well first off obviously he’s ‘Down to Clown…’”
— Twiττer’s Good Boy (@twitersgoodboy) April 25, 2015
That Jared Leto Joker is certainly out there. But he’s a fantastic actor so I’ll wait to judge until there is actually something to judge.
— Bobby Shortle (@bobbyshortle) April 25, 2015
Wow the joker and his gang look ready to take over gotham. pic.twitter.com/tDPsCtrujU
— DORITO BANDITO (@Reaprar) April 25, 2015
Jared Letos Joker looks absolutely bonkers.
— Matt Chiplin (@mchiplin) April 25, 2015
Somebody sic the actual Joker on whoever did that character design for Suicide Squad. That is TERRIBLE. WOW.
— Josh Campbell (@soupcan58) April 25, 2015
really impressed by how Leto looks as the Joker pic.twitter.com/VAvpfYm0KD
— ape has hugged ape (@AaronM) April 25, 2015
If that’s what the Joker looks like, just imagine the Juggalette Harley Quinn we’re getting.
— Devin Faraci (@devincf) April 25, 2015
I have often said there’s no wrong way to portray the Joker, as long as you do the basics. Now, I’m not sure. pic.twitter.com/2p5V6ojxwb
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) April 25, 2015
I love the idea of The Joker taking time to carefully tattoo “Ha” all over his body. The Joker, carefully applying bactene and moisturizer.
— Anthony Carboni (@acarboni) April 25, 2015
Ok so those ka-razzzy HAHAHA’s are supposed to be tattoos right? So does that mean just the tip of the Joker’s left nipple is tattooed?
— #1 Yharnam Mayor Mug (@bombsfall) April 25, 2015
Joker with tattoos? Is he an insane and twisted murderous clown or an angsty teenager defying his parents?
— Charlie (@Mays136) April 25, 2015
This is a Joker for the leather-trenchcoat-wearing, Crow-loving, wallet-on-a-chain types who have always been the Joker’s biggest fans.
— Chris McFeely (@chrismcfeely) April 25, 2015
Joker looks insane and awesome.
— Yo Adrian! (@MLAATRDude) April 25, 2015
The new joker looks disturbing
— Brandon miles (@brandonmiles67) April 25, 2015
love this new joker design pic.twitter.com/8NHIHPgucg
— andi (@captaintrash) April 25, 2015
Comments
64 responses to “The Internet Reacts To The New Joker”
It is indeed pretty bad.
Rather typical isn’t it? Marvel trying to take their TV and Movie characters closer to the page, DC wan’t to re-invent them for another new audience… Again.
tv maybe but not the movies..
Well, compared to DC it would appear that they at least try to stay true.
Edit: It’s pretty subjective and hit and miss from both companies. All I meant is that (lately) Marvel’s characters are very mildly re-imagined for the silver screen. DC has traditionally, and continues to (at least more frequently), completely change the looks or motives of their characters when adapting them over.
My opinion of course.
Yea It really does seem a bit try-hard.
Its like he is too self-aware of his lunacy? Tattooing on himself the image he wants to potray to other people…instead of just simply “being” insane. No real insane person would do this.
Hope I’m making sense.
This is what I imagine an inventive cosplay of the joker would look like. The actual acting might save the movie, but the tattoos take away instead of add to the character of the joker.
I agree with you. Some of the best Joker moments are when he thinks everyone else is insane and he is the only sane person left on the planet.
Yeah, absolutely. The Joker doesn’t need to have “damaged” tattooed on his head… BECAUSE HE WILL DEMONSTRATE IT TO YOUR FREAKING FACE!!
All those tats seem pretty….I dont know how to describe it. It just feels like it was thought up by a bunch of older studio suits who were trying to come up with something they felt was edgy and “crazy” and that the kids will like.
The forehead tattoo: Yep, I’m not a fan either. Can’t say I particularly like it much but it does get your attention that’s for sure.
The ‘grills’: Check out the picture of Batman, he’s got steel plated knuckles on his gauntlets. This looks like he’s belted the Joker around *a lot* and this is the result. Many broken, chipped teeth.
The expression: It’s an expression taken directly from Brian Bollands work from The Killing Joke. Here’s the image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Jokerkillingjoke.png
Even the ‘Haha’ tattoos are taken from the Killing Joke as is the mouth on his arm I believe.
I don’t know what to make of it, it’s unsettling and a bit odd? But I can’t say it’s bad? Joker should be disturbing to look at and they’ve achieved that. But one contextless picture, they did this to Heath Ledger too. The lesson to really learn, is a picture is just a picture, we need to see him in fully fledged footage before we can judge him. That’ll probably be at this coming Comiccon. *shrug*
Also needs slightly whiter skin…. green eyebrows and his teeth to be insanely yellow…
Agreed – and the red mouth needs to be highlighted more.
The red mouth is kinda the mainstay of the Joker look – it needs to be a big focus, regardless of anything else.
I can rationalise all of it except the forehead tattoo. Those are never as menacing as intended.
Pretty much just gives Batman something to aim for 😉 lol
Aim for? Ever punched someone in the forehead before? Me either, but I am very aware that it is the exact spot you NEVER want to punch someone. You’ll break fingers and they will take little to no damage =P
I have actually. Hurts like a bitch. I fight in tournaments all the time for my style, Kyokoshin karate. Normally we dont punch for the head, but accidents happen. But, when you’re wearing steel plated gauntlets like Batman is in the teaser trailer, I don’t imagine that’d worry you 🙂
I stand corrected on the forehead punch. F that S right in it’s A – don’t want to find out how it feels.
You could be right on the metal plating call. Is BvS actually set around the same time as Suicide Squad though? It is all speculation anyway, I guess.
Doesn’t feel good at all to be honest, especially if your wrist is bent. Feels bad on both ends, I’ve taken hits and given. lol. Nowhere near as bad as getting hit on the bridge of the nose though lol. Still carrying a slightly off center nose from it. Suicide Squad supposedly happens either just before or after BVS,
Depends where you hit, the damaged tattoo is the strongest part of the forehead, the flat facing forward bit isn’t anywhere near as hard as the curved surface.
Shaved armpits are a bit beyond the pale.
I don’t know… The tattoos will make it easier for Batman to track him down now… Unless he did them him self….
TBH If the tats where not there, I would be in to it….
While I’m sure he can act the part, the main thing that kills this design for me is those tatts. It’s like he carefully planned each design, commissioned a legitimate professional and then carefully adhered to the post-inking maintenance and care instructions. That’s something a die-hard Joker fan would do, not the Joker himself. Someone took too much time thinking about what would look cool rather than the spirit of the character.
My thoughts EXACTLY.
Im sure in BvS we’ll find out Harley was never a psychologist but infact, she ran a downtrodden, down in the dumps tattoo studio that Joker saved from the bring of bankruptcy by entering a danceoff/tattoo artist competition thus bringing the community together….
Or some such shit.
That’s it, this looks like a fan of the Joker rather than the man himself.
To quote the Joker, “More Flashy Maitre’D than motorcycle fetish” From Beneath the Red Hood.
lol I posted the same thoughts before I read this. I agree with you!
It even looks like a tattoo fail where they failed to account for the stiff nipple. Obviously tattooed when he was less turned on (or cold).
“That’s my secret, I’m always turned on!”
Agreed, dodgy prison tatts would have seemed more authentic than such carefully drawn work.
My problem with this is he looks like somebody who is trying really, really hard to LOOK crazy.
He doesn’t look like somebody who IS crazy.
(For a measurement of crazy. Sometimes I think the joker is the sanest person around, and THAT is what makes him a scary mofo.)
I think it looks good.
/shrug
Could do without the “damaged” tattoo though.
damaged in nice pretty letters on his forehead… so not the Joker to me. I can’t see the Joker going into the best tattoo place in Gotham and asking their best artist to tat his forehead because he didn’t want them to mess up the masterpiece that is his face. Now if it would have been scared, branded or done by some one Mr. J was torturing and all screwed up I wouldn’t mind. The Joker doesn’t want pretty things, he wants to blow pretty things up.
and the comment about falling into a vat of hot topic was awesome.
Personally, I would’ve accepted the ‘damaged’ thing, if he’s say, carved it into his forehead with a stanley knife. That to me, is the Joker.
He looks like keith flint from the prodigy, just saying
This is for the Suicide Squad movie, right? I think it looks fine for what that movie could possibly be like.
I hate to be one of the detractors, but I just loath this design. As soon as I saw it I thought he looked like a Marilyn Manson surrogate. The Jokers of the past have always had a touch of class to them – Mark Hamill’s animated Joker for example. He was a psychotic loon, but he always had that touch of sophistication and poise that made him weirdly charming. Same goes for Nicholson’s Joker. Hell, even Ledger’s joker wore three piece suits (albeit heavily worn down and weathered).
This new Joker just looks like someone in their late 50s’ idea of what a “rebellious youth” should look like these days. Granted it’s far too early to say whether he will be good or bad since it’s just one still, but getting the basic design of the character this wrong right from the start does not bode well.
I’m fairly sure this is a concept image and not the final design. I like the look of a younger Joker with tats but it doesn’t seem genuine to me that he would be covered in tats that are just references to himself.
Cyberpunk hipster? seems so, probably looks ok when wearing actual clothing however. If they intend to cast him topless in the movie its not going to be that impressive.
Wait, Jared Leto’s an actor? Oh, God, now I’m the uncultured swine!
Yep, pretty amazing one too.
Wow, all these awards and awesome movies under his belt… It’s super weird to think of him as a critically acclaimed actor and the frontman of an emo band. It’s crazy! I wish I were that mutitalented.
Pretty much the main reason I know he’ll perform a great role as the Joker, he’s a genuine actor.
He looks more like a heavy metal punk-styled rock star than anything I would expect the Joker to look like.
When I saw the pic on the Kotaku front page my first impression was that it was supposed to represent the fan reaction to the design. When I checked the main article and found that it was the actual design…
…it turned out my first impression was actually pretty accurate.
Really, the expression doesn’t look manic. It looks like he’s left his colours in with his whites. “Oh no, my business shirt is now pink!”
It looks like a photoshoot for stock photos. He’s way too groomed for the Joker.
I feel like this is the Dark Knight response again. Everyone is hung up on their specific range of Jokers and how this picture doesn’t fit into that, without considering the idea that they may enjoy a type of Joker they haven’t seen in a movie before. This is looking like one of the flashier, more energetic, mayhem driven Jokers. The wildcard Joker that is too busy having fun to get caught up in a million different extremely intricate plans. This style tends to have a better spot in stuff like Suicide Squad.
I’m not saying it’ll be good just that it doesn’t have to be Heath Ledger or Mark Hamill to be a good take on the character.
Worse yet, their arguments are based off the Dark Knight movies, which are so far removed from the comics that they are complaining about Batfleck murdering people… which he actively does in the later dark Knight comics…
Plus people tend to gloss over the insane amount of retcons and redesigns along with completely ridiculous out there versions of the characters that run. This is relatively tame.
All those ornaments and they didn’t give him the iconic too-long, horned smile corners? That would automatically make him look Joker-esque in spite of all the other crap.
I think I prefer it without all the tattoos (especially the forehead one).
I can’t decide whether they accidentally posted the winner of the “”Biggest Joker Fanboy” competition or the Joker’s origin story is that he rebelled against strict parents who never let him have fun and had a bunch of dental work done at some point.
He reminds me of Steve-o from jackass after taking a lot of LSD. Anyone? No?
Canon is not immutable. We rewrite it all the time, sometimes for the better.
I believe the psychopathy will be in the performance and script, not the body art. Looks aside, Leto is one that you can see delivering a great Joker, and hopefully step out from Ledger’s enormous shadow.
This is just bad photoshop, right? Like, no makeup artist actually sat with Leto to do this?
I also saw some backpeddling tweet about how this is NOT Suicide Squad design, but just to “celebrate” 75 years. Hmm.
It’s fine. Go, Jordan Catalano!
I just wish “damaged” had been tattooed in comic sans. That I could buy as insanity.
BAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!!
Some people just want to watch the world burn…
Marilyn Manson called. Wants his stylist back.
Just looks like a rebellious teenager who’s aged a bit. Not the type of joker I would expect for a proper Batman movie. Disappoint.
Comparing this to Ledger’s Joker is unnecessary, mostly because it shouldn’t have any bearing on Leto’s Joker whatsoever. This Joker I’m fairly certain would be a different angle to Ledger’s restrained anarchist deal – I think they’ll be trying for the manic, energetic psychopath we know from the comics. Plus it’d be foolish to try and emulate Ledger.
That isn’t to say I’m not iffy on it – but if I’ve learnt anything, it’s to be open minded. This could be ace. We know nothing apart from this image. And if memory serves, early images of Ledger’s Joker were met with derision and cynicism as well. This is the internet – it’s everyone’s duty to shit on anything from the outset.
Leto’s a talented actor – let’s just wait and see, people.
Where does this leave us with the Joker from Gotham? That guy was great, really seemed to hark back to Nicholson, for me anyways.
Is that a teardrop tattoo in the shape of a condom?
I guess we’re lucky. Turns out this IS NOT the look for the Joker and is merely a piece of ‘art’ for the Jokers 75th anniversary.
Don’t like it
It’s too try hard. Can anyone seriously picture the Joker sitting down and saying ‘I want to get damaged tattooed on my forehead’
No. That just isn’t his character.
The Joker doesn’t try to come across as insane – he IS insane. His appearance should be a reflection of that. Getting damaged tattooed on your head is what some douche that ‘thinks’ hes tough as shit would do. Wouldn’t be surprised if they incorporated a tribal tattoo in this costume as well – seeing as everything else is so out of touch.