Director, David Ayer had a big surprise ready for DC fans going into this weekend! The Suicide Squad helmer revealed the first official image of Jared Leto in full character as Batman arch-nemesis, The Joker on his Twitter feed today, for the upcoming DC film. You can check out the image below:
This concludes the long and gradual Twitter campaign by both Ayer and Leto to gradually reveal more and more of Leto’s transformation into the famed DC psychopath. Leto previously tweeted photos of his clean-shaven face and newly short haircut, followed by an addition of bleach blonde hair, followed by a sample of his red lip makeup, followed by a shot showcasing his green hair in a homage to the famous camera shot from acclaimed Batman graphic novel, The Killing Joke. This reveal image is also a homage to The Killing Joke, specifically the panel where Joker first emerges from the river of chemicals that disfigures him and gives him his familiar Joker appearance from DC lore.
As you can see, Leto’s Joker has several trademarks of the character from his former portrayals across DC media, namely the green hair, red lips and chalk-white complexion. At the same time however, the numerous tattoos are a brand new cosmetic addition, with the chattering teeth and playing cards harkening back to various Joker identifiers from DC Comics. The shot would also suggest that, as previously reported, Leto did indeed put on some muscle for the role, suggesting that he may be more of a physical presence than the lanky, almost feeble-looking Joker portrayals throughout the majority of DC lore.
Leto’s Joker is the first DC personality revealed for DC Cinematic Universe movie, Suicide Squad, set to hit theatres on August 5th, 2016. The movie also stars Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, with Common recently cast in a mystery role. Those other DC portrayals have yet to be revealed however, even if Ayer did tweet a photo of the movie’s lead and supporting cast together and out-of-character for a table read.
Keep tickling Eggplante for all news and updates on Suicide Squad, and other DC Cinematic Universe movie projects.