Last night, the Internet went absolutely crazy with a new photo showing Jared Leto as the Joker in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. Unsurprisingly, the edgy, grill-laden, tattooed Joker isn’t winning everyone over. Twitter had its Photoshop tools ready to tear Warner Bros. and DC Comics a new one.
Here’s Brian Altano from the Comedy Button taking a crack.
https://twitter.com/agentbizzle/status/591802468700266496
And of course there was a Home Alone mockup.
SO PUMPED FOR HOME ALONE 4!!!!!!! #Joker #Joker75 #SuicideSquad #wtf pic.twitter.com/Z6y4xiVdsS
— Farroki 🦏 (@RyanFarroki) April 25, 2015
The most creative was this riff on a classic Gameboy ad.
@TheBardockObama The Joker loves Gameboy pic.twitter.com/lEFwWjkbca
— Mike (@Mike_Cam_) April 25, 2015
IGN editor Daniel Krupa had some poignant commentary on Leto’s Joker.
I’m glad they’ve pointed out the Joker is ‘damaged’. Cheers. pic.twitter.com/iTcLfgU8Lz
— Daniel (@Krupa) April 25, 2015
Why not flip the script and see how Ben Affleck would look as a tatted Bruce Wayne?
I don’t hate the joker look the way 90% of the Internet does, but stumbled across this and it’s hilarious pic.twitter.com/Xjh7xacArl
— george❄️ (@gbloftus) April 25, 2015
What if the Joker was part of Xzibit’s posse?
https://twitter.com/AaronM/status/591767572535644160
Would this be his album cover?
Lastly, what would Leto’s Joker look like without all the tattoos?
https://twitter.com/OshiSeven/status/591939043803410433
The general consensus has been that Leto’s Joker is not at all indicative of the maniacal character we’ve grown up with, especially considering the amazing performance from Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight or the more recent interpretation of the Joker by Scott Snyder in the Batman comics. Their Joker captured another level of insanity. Leto’s Joker doesn’t seem to do that.
People are really starting to question the inclusion of the Joker in the Suicide Squad movie. The point of the Suicide Squad is that it’s a group of criminals with a very unique set of skills. Those skills are then used to decrease their sentences. The Joker doesn’t really have a unique set of skills. He’s simply a maniac.
Now that we have seen Jared Leto’s Joker, it’s really hard to see how his character will be able to effectively contribute to a team.
Photo via JD Hancock/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
