If you’re a comic fanatic like me, yesterday was like a second Christmas with the release of the official Suicide Squad trailer. The movie has been getting a huge hype as soon as it got announced, primarily for its selected cast – which includes Jared Leto as the Joker. The last scene, however, showed us why Suicide Squad’s Joker might be the best Joker, yet!
For the comic fans, casting Leto was thought of as interesting. As for the ones who don’t know anything about the comics – who just have their joker’s judgment based on Heath Ledger’s portrayal in the Dark Knight– thought the casting was poor.
For all the skeptics out there, you should know that there are many Joker characters, and Leto’s Joker might be the best Joker there is!
The many faces of Joker:
Comic readers know that all super heroes and villains have many characters. Yes, they’re all under the same name, but with every era and every series there is a different twist. There are tens of “Jokers” in the DC comics world, and the one from the Suicide Squad movie is a whole new Joker that we haven’t seen in any featured film before.
You can’t compare him to Heath Ledger
Ledger did in fact make a phenomenal portrayal of the Joker, but it can’t, and shouldn’t, be compared to Leto’s Joker because they both aren’t playing the same Joker!
Jack Nicholson fans were skeptical about Heath Ledger as well
I, personally, have a soft spot for Nicholson’s Joker since I was raised with it. Many felt the same, and when Ledger was announced as the new Joker for Dark Knight, people attacked him. Everyone was expecting a funny, witty, and bubbly Joker like Nicholson, but needless to say, when the movie was released, he shut all the skeptics up!
Jared Leto isn’t just a pretty face, he’s a great actor
Leto is mostly known for being the front man of the band 30 Seconds to Mars. While some might think that he forced his way around the acting scene after being a famous musician, he’s actually an actor turned musician, not the other way around. So even with being a successful musician, he’s an even better actor who has an Oscar under his belt, and numerous other awards.
His looks in the movie might be strange, but fitting
The Suicide Squad series is not directly related to Batman, it’s only under the DC universe. Suicide Squad is focused on the anti-heroes and villains who cooperate with the government to do some good. The series, also, tried to modernize the characters, to make them more urban and relatable. So if you think of it, if the Joker was modern, he’d really look like Leto in the movie.
Chances are, this might be the best Joker we see on the big screen for a while!
While I’m not a big fan of judging a role from trailers, I really think Leto could bring something new to the Joker’s character. This is the first Joker character that will be somewhat humanized, and Leto is known for making people take his side with his roles, even though most of his roles were of him being the villain. (Watch Lonely Hearts and Chapter 27 if you don’t believe it).
His personality is also over the top and he knows how to play the crazy psychopath! He’s extremely witty as well, and that’s almost everything we need in the Joker!
