LOS ANGELES -- If there's anyone who looks like he's been dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight, it's this guy. Or maybe dancing in the pale fluorescent light of a mediocre tattoo parlor.
Suicide Squad director David Ayer on Friday night revealed this image of Jared Leto as the Joker -- and it's nuttier (and inkier) than the emo version Leto revealed earlier this month.
Take a look at the full image here, on Ayers' Twitter account:
The Suicide Squad wishes you a Happy Anniversary Mr. J! #Joker75 #SuicideSquad @WarnerBrosEnt @DCComics pic.twitter.com/LZXz0x947Q— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 25, 2015
As you can see from the tweet, the new look comes on the 75th anniversary of Joker's debut -- but it also gives us a clue into the Suicide Squad's version of Joker's origins.
Leto's look and pose are a nod to "Batman: The Killing Joke," the 1988 Batman comics run that definitively rewrote the Joker's backstory as a stand-up comedian who gets tangled up in a gang, disfigured and driven insane. You remember, this guy:
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/killing.joke_.batman.jpg" caption="A panel from the 1988 "Batman: The Killing Joke."" credit="DC Comics" alt="killing.joke.batman"]
And it's not the first photo of Leto that referenced "The Killing Joke." An earlier image that Ayer released resembled the cover, with The Joker pointing at camera at point-blank range. And the HA HA HA HA HA in the image above isn't exactly hard to find in Leto's tattoos.
Now, about those tattoos. The Joker we're used to is a dapper fellow -- bow ties and hats and canes up to and including Jack Nicholson's version, greasy hair and greasier makeup courtesy of Heath Ledger, not much in between in the comics.
But Leto's Joker looks less like a conniving maniac, and perhaps more like the lead singer of a 1990s funk rock band.
So we have a tatted-up Joker who thinks "damaged" on the forehead and "HA HA HA HA HA" on the forearms was just what his personal brand needed. That's certainly new.
Still, the Joker has quite a track record for being loved in whatever new form he may come -- no matter how much people don't like it at first. Just ask this guy:
