The First Official Picture of Jared Leto As The Joker
Some thoughts about the first official picture of Jared Leto as the Joker in Suicide Squad
In the latest disposable trending news director David Ayers tweeted out a picture of what Jared Leto’s interpretation of the Joker will be looking like in Suicide Squad. Not surprisingly fans have been weighing in with their thoughts of his appearance and sharing what they think is right and wrong with it.
It’s so funny how quickly the latest Hollywood buzz gets replaced with even newer news today. This stuff trends for a few days before the next thing tries to push it aside for attention. It doesn’t even last a week! Weren’t we all just talking about the Star War and Batman v Superman trailers?
So the attention this Jared Joker picture is getting will soon be a tossed aside until everyone can talk about the next buzzing movie topic – whatever that might be.
Anyway, my thoughts on this new Joker – meh.
I’m not too crazy about it. It looks like they’re trying way too hard to be different and they should have reeled things back a bit. Leto’s got the green hair and white skin, two requirements of the joker, but the rest seems like they’re going overboard with his appearance and really attempting to be ‘new and modern’.
I don’t mind the tattoos, if they weren’t so ‘on the nose’. A skull jester, a big grin, the numerous ‘Ha, ha, ha’s’ all over his chest. The Joker used to actually smile and laugh, now I guess he can save himself the trouble and just roll up his sleeve and open his shirt.
It’s like they just took some of the most iconic attributes of the character and just decorated him with it. It’s a bit boring actually. I’m surprised they didn’t tattoo a squirting flower on his chest. The worst one – and I think the one tattoo that is getting the most flak from fans is the ‘damaged’ tattoo on his forehead. Again way too ‘on the nose’. And it’s a really such a dainty, fancy font he’s chosen for that!
The teeth….I don’t know. Maybe when Leto smiles in the movie his grin will be eerie and memorable, but in this photo it looks rather dull and uninspired. I get it – the Joker got grills because perhaps Batman has knocked out his teeth in fights. Ok, that makes sense, but that doesn’t mean the design decisions work very well. Maybe they could have shined them up a bit so when he smiles it creates a sparkle like one of those cheesy toothpaste ads.
After Heath Ledger’s Joker they had to do something different with the character. If they hadn’t they would have just been called on copying his interpretation. But so far this looks like a step back with the Joker. Maybe Leto will do a great job with the character and add another epic performance to the roster of actors who’ve played him. But as of now this image hasn’t made me any more excited to see Suicide Squad than I was before.
And quite frankly I’ve been indifferent about it anyway. The casting of Will Smith and Jai Courtney has not raised my enthusiasm for it. What is with Courtney? He just doesn’t give up! He always manages to get these roles in popular films and somehow it just never works out. A Good Day to Die Hard was a complete bust and Terminator: Genisys looks like a mess.
Will Suicide Squad be the movie where he’ll actually be good in and everyone will actually say ‘hey, he wasn’t like a piece of plywood in this and the movie was pretty good???’. And why cast Will Smith in this? Did they really need a big A-List star to headline it? I bet he was anxious to sign up to this, he hasn’t had a big hit in awhile.
I’m guessing this won’t be a superhero movie for kids. Just the concept is geared for mature audiences and the young demographic will probably be left out of it. But just for fun I showed my eight and nine year old nephews the picture of the new Joker.
Granted, they have a very limited view of what the Joker should look like and are probably not as receptive to different interpretations of the character than their more adult superhero fan counterparts.
Looking at the picture they were very confused. They simply both looked at each other and said, “That’s not the Joker! That doesn’t even look like the Joker! That’s a really bad Joker!”.
Hopefully for Ayers and Leto the older audience will be more welcoming of this Joker and it will grow on us.
The problem with the Joker is that you need the looks, but you also need the performance. Nicholson and Ledger delivered those in spades. With Leto's casting I only saw the laugh, but nothing else. Now we see the look, and it's awful. To modernise the Joker they decided to get rid of all the insanity and subtilty that made the character so memorable, and just make him a full blown psychopath with the tats and short hair. I was never a fan of Leto's but I do hope his performance compensates for the look. I for one haven't got much hope for Suicide Squad; I'm with you in regards to Jai Courtney, the guy is more wooden than a plank. Will Smith; back in the 90s he was mildly amusing. Now he's just annoying. And last but not least, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, again an actor I have no admiration for. Firstly whenever someone mentions Quinn, I think of the annoying representation of her in the Animated Series. No doubt with Robbie on board, the filmmakers will try and sex her up. Sexy legs, obvious bust etc.