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Summary
Over the course of two movies , Jared Leto conjoin theranks of premature resilient - military action Joker actorslike Jack Nicholson and the late Heath Ledger to play Batman ’s arch - nemesis in theDC Extended Universe . From his tattooed Joker ’s first look photos to a menacing glimpse in theSuicide Squadteaser house trailer , Leto make enough bombination for his unique depiction of the fiber on societal media . But many sports fan were eventually disappointed by the destruction mathematical product as the David Ayer movie featured the Joker as a confirm persona , leaving much more to be explore in succeeding DCEU movies . If anything , a abbreviated role inZack Snyder ’s Justice Leagueoffered some redemption .
While some buff were still in awe of the mad push that theDallas Buyers Clubactor brought on screen , his Joker continues to be a subject of debate among DC fans . A significant chunk of critic and audiences notice Leto ’s carrying out to be too over - the - top and not as realistic as his predecessor Heath Ledger inThe Dark Knight . The stylistic alternative of his gangster clown also came off as edgy for amusing book purist who establish the tattoos and toothgrill too much of a deviation from traditional depiction of the Joker . Leto ’s Joker pave the way for some telling Harley Quinn labor , but the character remains enigmatic on his own .
Jared Leto ’s Joker , who debuted in 2016 ’s Suicide Squad , was a controversial rendering of the type , and his eventual fate is result unclear .
Why Jared Leto’s Joker Was So Different To Other Versions
To play the Joker , Jared Leto seemed to have blended his method act with the trait of his predecessor . Leto ’s Joker evoke the charisma of Jack Nicholson inBatmanand the anarchism - driven volatility of Heath Ledger inThe Dark Knight . At the same time , this adaptation of the Joker was right smart more modern in term of his coming into court , as Ayer wanted to go with a flashy “ mobster look ” ( viaEntertainment Weekly ) . The dye immature pilus away , Leto was covered with all sorts of tattoo , include the notorious “ Damaged ” tattoo adorn his forehead . Other visual choices let in a grillwork on his tooth that marked a painfully modern addition to the case ’s visual vocabulary .
Four actors have played Joker in springy - action mechanism films , and all are an Oscar winner : Jack Nicholson , Heath Ledger , Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix .
Perhaps the singer and actor ’s struggle for originality can also be understood from how he never broke grapheme on solidification . While Ledger tended to get into character by locking himself up in solitary spaces , Leto start the other way around . The Joker ’s affinity for chaos and not taking things gravely is manifest in Leto ’s on - set harlequinade . For instance , Viola Davis toldVoguehow Leto gifted fellowSuicide Squadstar Margot Robbie a alive rat on set . Adam Beach similarly say in an audience withE ! Newsthat on his day off , Leto shipped an unnerving TV content and a dead pig on theSuicide Squadset .
Despite his extravagant fashion choices and over - dramatic negotiation speech , Leto toldEntertainment Weeklythat he take a thick dive to realise the character ’s fluid psyche . aside from spend time with psychiatrists , Leto also met “ hoi polloi who had committed horrendous crimes ” and “ people who have been institutionalized for great stop of time ” . lecture about psychiatrists , his love affair with psychologist - turned - accomplice Harley Quinn also set his character asunder , as no previous unrecorded - activeness adaptation had turn over into his manipulative nature as a lover . Reshoots changed Joker and Harley ’s relationshipinSuicide Squadbut he was guess to be more abusive to her than in the theatrical cut . This slant have him even more hauntingly obsessional .
Did Leto’s Joker Go Too Far?
Despite his circumscribed screen time inSuicide Squad , Leto ’s Joker capsulise the reference ’s toxic trait . Harley Quinn was introduced inBatman : The Animated Seriesfrom where Joker ’s gaslighting propensity can be trace . The dialogue “ Oh , I ’m not gon na kill ya . I ’m just gon na wound ya … really , really bad . ” bewitch the brutal ways in which he physically and mentally changes Quinn . The setting with the Joker omit fagot into a vat of window pane might be taking it too far , but this is a conniption at once necessitate from the 2011Suicide Squad comicbook series . So , despite Leto ’s minatory depicting , his comic leger counterpart has been way more manic over the class .
Dropping her into battery-acid is just one of the manydespicable thing that Joker did to HarleyQuinn . self-annihilation Squad#14 found the clown mobster chain her by the neck to hide his secret whileBatman#663 found Harley almost being killed for the sake of a caper ’s “ punchline ” . From the animated series to the comics , he has do by her below the belt and savagely , the reason why Quinn finally left him in next comics . Even while compared to other dupe , Leto ’s Joker does seem more roughshod in his affinity to torture individuals alternatively of just shooting them off ( like what Nicholson , Ledger , and Phoenix ’s Joker did mostly ) .
Jared Leto almost play the Joker in two DCEU movie that never happened , one of which would also have have Margot Robbie ’s Harley Quinn .
But again , the comic record version of Joker is the one that takes it too far , as can be go out from some particularly graphic comic dialog box . The Killing Jokeminiseries remains controversial to this day for the Joker shoot and paralyze Barbara Gordon . Even though a Robin costume inBatman v Superman : Dawn of Justicedoes imply that Leto ’s Joker might have injure or killed Jason Todd , theA decease in the Familystoryline offer more linguistic context on Joker ’s relentless attempts to kill the 15 - twelvemonth - old with a crowbar . So , even though the DC Extended Universe did make The Joker shadow and gritty , he ’s still more balanced , unlike the comedian .
As for the performance : Leto ’s problem was that his Joker was deemed too much by a lot of the audience . He miss the coolness of some of the other edition , and dial up oddness ( arguably more fittingly for a character who styles himself as a merry andrew ) . Tattoos aside , his look is actually a bully gain to the Joker canyon , and Leto ’s performance is as unnerving and annoying as you ’d anticipate . The major progeny came not with delivery but with framing : as David Ayer himself said , the slash ofSuicide Squadthat made it to dramaturgy made him a prop and not a fictional character . In that context , it ’s no surprisal that he did n’t shape , or thatZack Snyder ’s Justice Leagueappearance felt so much stronger .
