Jared Leto As The Joker

[Alex]

Spoiler

So what say you. Does Jared Leto have the chops to pull of the Joker and will people accept him as the Joker as many people seem to swing from Heath Ledger's (extremely good) portrayal.

Just by going by appearance alone it's one of my favourites. It seems to have the perfect middle ground between Jack Nicholson's portrayal and Heath Ledger's. I assume the costume he'll be wearing will compliment the current the look also.

As to whether he can pull it off.Well the guy is an Oscar winner and pulling off roles like he did in Requiem For A Dream and Dallas Buyers Club (which I still need to watch) he should be fine. Plus he just seems naturally a bit weird anyway.

So yeah I'm pretty stoked for Suicide Squad. Probably moreso than Batman vs Superman.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

The main bit I'm not keen on is the Damaged tattoo.

Now from what I understand, he's not a stable gentleman so maybe it is a new interpretation of exploring different ways that the film-makers are exploring that but the word Damaged a) tattooed so prominently on his forehead and b) the deliberate typography that was chosen seems quite disjointed for him, especially contrasted with the more scribbled HAHAHA tattoos.

The J tattoo in the usual teardrop location to signal that someone has killed a person also doesn't sit right with me. J for Joker, fine I get that but unless his name before Joker began with a J too (does he have a real name?) then I don't really get it.

Leto is a beautiful looking person so yeh, why not show him off topless? Well, because Joker for all his eccentric behaviour, has worn some fairly nice suits that literally and figuratively allows him to keep some tricks up his sleeves, or at least on his person.

I don't hate the look entirely but I can understand why some people are not so keen on it. The one counter argument I have which I always go to whenever there are complaints about how a character appears/acts in a movie compared to how they are in the comics is that for the vast majority of big comic franchises, there have been numerous interpretations of characters in comics themselves, so the movie versions shouldn't be held to an overly strict criteria of how the same characters are presented.

 

[Alastor]

Yeah, I didn't mind the tattoos except the damaged stamp on his forehead. The image feels more like a joker gang member than the big guy himself. They should have him tattoo a bat on his forehead instead.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I completely agree with dee oh dubya dee ess. I'm not big on the Damaged tattoo (weird font & a little too on the nose I'd say) & some of the more latino gang banger looking tattoos like the one you can kind of see on his stomach or the teardrop tat (which by the way, in most incarnations his real name has started with a J. In the Keaton films it was Jack Napier & in Gotham it's Jerome. I believe Joe, Joseph & Jasper have all been used at one point or another as well. I like the version where he get's an envelope addressed to him as "Joseph Kerr" & scratches out the "seph" & the last letter "r" to make "Jo Ker") but overall I like that they are taking some chances with the character & clearly adapting him differently then we have seen before. But as far as it being a middle ground between Nicholson's & Ledger's performances, I couldn't disagree more. In fact, I think they are clearly taking Ledger's version & amping it up even more & bringing it even more into the modern era. They've gone from subtle, older Joker that's scarier more so because of what he didn't say, to a Joker that was a little younger & way creepier because of his body language & what little he did actually say whenever he eventually spoke & now it looks like we're going to get a very young, L.A. gang leader type Joker that looks like he smokes tons of meth & will be spouting off constant nonsense.

So while it's only a picture so far & we have no idea what the finished product will actually be yet, I'm excited to see they're trying something new & adapting a new interpretation of the character we have yet to see on the big screen before.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

My initial reaction was that I didn't like it, as I didn't see how anyone could play The Joker as well as Heath Ledger, but the more I think about it...the more I think "why not?"

Films would be boring if every actor and every director decided to portray a charcter in the same way each time. If I was incredibly loyal to a certain portrayal perhaps my view would be different, but I'm willing to give Leto a chance with this. He's a very talented actor so I'm interested to see what he can bring to the role. It'll certainly be very different from anything we've seen from The Joker before!

I'm not a huge fan of the "damaged" tattoo (as others have posted), and has it been confirmed that Leto will be playing him topless? Surely we'll see the purple suit at some point- if the character is more of a "street-gang" leader, perhaps i'll be suit in more "ghetto" style, who knows.

I'm looking forard to hearing more about the film and more about Leto's role in the near future.

 

[Alex]

But as far as it being a middle ground between Nicholson's & Ledger's performances, I couldn't disagree more. In fact, I think they are clearly taking Ledger's version & amping it up even more & bringing it even more into the modern era.

See I don't see that. Obviously just going by the picture I see the cartoony vibe Jack Nicholson brought ala killing people with beauty products with the sociopath that Heath Ledger brought to the table. So I see someone who'd kill you using a poisoned plate of chips because you sneezed and didn't say bless you or something equally crazy.

I honestly missed the 'Damaged' tattoo the first time I saw the picture. I'm clearly not as eagle-eyed as I thought. But yeah that seems to be reaching a bit.

In terms of people saying he looks a bit to gang banger type with the tattoos what's wrong with that. In fact it would make it more interesting as his arch enemy is a billionaire who doesn't interact with street level people on a regular basis.

Also don't forget the Yakuza traditionally have tattoos and they can be suave as hell.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

I think we're looking too much into his appearance. This isn't a Batman movie really- just some comic that very few even knew about. It's pretty much DC's equivalent to Guardians of the Galaxy. Wouldn't phase me at all if Joker was really a minor character while villains like Deadshot and Harley Quinn get more screentime.

As for this image...I thought Ledger's Black Dahlia Joker looked stupid when his first pics surfaced. Imagine my surprise when I went to go see The Dark Knight. I'm sure Jared Leto will do a great job with this very realistic portrayal of what appears to be an institutionalized Clown Prince of Crime.

 

[CaptainObvious]

I like it. When talk "who's gonna be the next joker" came about, Leto was a guy I thought could do the job. He's got a good face for it and has played some really eccentric roles. I have no doubt he'll do a good job in this no matter how how involved he is or how much screen time he has.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Films would be boring if every actor and every director decided to portray a charcter in the same way each time.

My thoughts exactly.

Ledger’s performance was outstanding in The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Joker was darker and more sinister. He didn’t have the bright purple suit, the pasty make-up, or the green hair, and Ledger’s style of dark humor was along the lines of a cold-blooded sociopath. A big change, when you compare Ledger to Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson’s goofier personas.

As far as Jared Leto’s Joker goes, I can’t say I have any real complaints about the first look. It’s a creepy pic with all the tattoos, the teeth, and Leto’s scraggy body. Also, the make-up is not too over the top, so Leto doesn’t look like a silly clown. Jared Leto has the talent to pull it off, and any positive signs of Leto as The Joker in the first trailer should erase any doubts about his look and the costume.

 

[enviousdominous]

This is why I love this forum, this is literally the only section of the internet I've found that isn't dumping all over the latest incarnation of the Joker. Twitter is just a massive clogged toilet of hate filled thoughts regarding Jared Leto's make-up job.

The Joker is one of my favorite fictional pop-culture icons, I've honestly loved every official interpretation I've seen of him. It's my understanding that the character has higher learning as a chemist; judging by the picture I'd say that he's taking something like crystal meth or angel dust to escape his demons.

I wish that picture wouldn't have been leaked until closer to mid 2016, I don't like anticipating something for over a year.

 

[Alex]

Apparently there's a rumour/spoiler that This Joker may turn up in Batman Vs Superman in a flashback

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Joker-Batman-v-Superman-71149.html