The Joker is a psychotic, sadistic, killing, chaotic, hysterical, insane, egotistical, maniac. That's why I love him!!! The Joker is my favorite literary villain of all time, and many others' as well. He's been portrayed on the big screen by the likes of Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Heath Ledger. 2 of the 3 have won Oscars, all 3 have appeared in Oscar winning movies. Now we're adding one more to the list with Jared Leto. Leto, of 30 Seconds to Mars and Dallas Buyers Club fame, in my opinion is an amazing choice for the Joker and I believe he could definitely live up to Heath Ledger's portrayal if he worked hard enough, though I don't want him to work too hard as we've seen what being too immersed in this character can do to you (RIP). That being said, Jared Leto is not afraid to throw himself in to a character and even Nicholson has said to play this role you need to fall in to it head first.
Joker's first appearance (unless he makes a surprise cameo in BvS DoJ) will be in 2016's Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad is a constantly changing group made up (mostly) of super-villains who perform black ops missions with a low chance of survival in exchange for the possibility of a shortened sentence. Joker will most likely not be a part of the team, to the relief of fans, but he will be a part of the movie. There must be a reason to introduce him alongside Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller, Rick Flag, and Enchantress versus against his arch-nemesis Batman. Alongside that idea are many other ideas as to who this Joker should be, what he should do, and how he should do it. And in the words of a psychopath,
I know what you might be thinking, "Why is he talking about personality? We all know what the Joker's personality is? Why is he changing it?" I'm here to tell you that I'm not changing the Joker's personality in any way that he'd be unrecognizable. Barely changing him at all. I'm focusing on personality because every incarnation of the Joker is either slightly or drastically different from the last. This Joker will round up to drastic change versus slight change from the last incarnation (being Heath Ledger's Joker).
Looking at manips of Jared Leto as Joker around the internet has led me to believe that the general thoughts that are running around in our heads (whether we recognize it or not) is that Leto's Joker will be less realistic in this universe. Usually when an actor becomes a fan favorite for playing the Joker, Photoshop enthusiasts of the inter webs give him the chipped face paint, eye liner, and scarred look from The Dark Knight. Oddly enough, I haven't seen a huge number of those around the internet lately. Most manips have yes had the white skin and scarred red lips (which is a part of the Joker's comic book appearance) and even some dark shading around the eyes (which as the picture above states didn't start with Ledger), but they didn't look like Ledger's Joker. These pictures gave me the idea as too what kind of Joker I want to see from this movie.
A good way of describing it is taking the Joker of the Batman animated series, then making him more sadistic, psychotic, and theatrical. I like to call him a rock star Joker (not only because the actor portraying him is one). He should have a big personality that doesn't seem cheesy or campy, but makes him even more intense. A sense of showmanship should be included. Joker always wants to put on a show, whether it's for his hostage who's seeing his loved ones get blown up, for Batman who gets to see his sidekick get beaten to death (then blown up), or whether it's just for him to enjoy. Despite this out there personality, he should still be insane, and there should be more of that in his personality.
I want to see a Joker that has to be kept in a strait jacket in Arkham. A Joker more crazy than any other we've seen before. This Joker should be scary, not because he looks like a monster, but because he acts like one. If you mixed a villain has crazy and killer as Hannibal Lecter and mixed him with someone as big as Candy from Django Unchained or Loki, you'd have this Joker. This attitude has to be accompanied by a matching look. That's what the picture above shows. This Joker looks like he has attitude, pizazz, and like he'll gut you and (if he doesn't laugh) wouldn't physically show any signs mental or emotional response to what he's doing. As if it's a boring routine he's been doing for years. Though I think while in Arkham, restrained in a strait jacket, he should look a little more rough.
H I S T O R Y
In this DC Cinematic Universe, Batman has been around for a while. This probably means that Joker has too. If so, then I think his history with Batman should go back far. 2 of Joker's (and Batman's) defining moments in comics are when he kills Jason Todd and cripples Barbara Gordon. In this universe, Joker should've already done both of those things. This would explain the darker and rougher Batman we've been told Affleck will portray. In the comics after Todd's death and Gordon's crippling, Batman took a downwards dive in to darkness. He went from a detective aided by fear, to nothing but fear. When Batman comes in contact with Joker he should want to kill him, but he can't. Joker knows this, and taunts him with it. Joker wants a reaction out of Batman, he gets a kick out of it.
Joker should have a very dynamic with someone else. This persons name? Harley Quinn. These two should've had an on and off relationship for about 3 or 4 years now (as Margot Robbie is 24), but by the point we meet them in Suicide Squad they should be separated. Joker did something to her which caused her to leave him and do something stupid to get incarcerated. Even though the two deny it (verbally and physically), it's apparent that they have some feelings for each other throughout the movie, but the characters should not be dependent on each other. Harley doesn't always have to be thinking about Joker, and Joker doesn't always have to be thinking abut Harley.
Joker's origin should not be blatantly shown or stated, but I do want a nice balance between how they handled them in Batman and The Dark Knight. I don't want to see the origin told to me on screen, but some (contradicting) references to it from the Joker himself would be nice. I'd really love to finally see the Red Hood aspect of the character incorporated. Whether he's the Red Hood or the leader of the Red Hood Gang. I'd just love to see that and it would be the perfect set up for a certain other Batman storyline that could be used in the Affleck films.
S U I C I D E S Q U A D
Like I mentioned earlier, Joker will likely not be a part of the Squad in this movie. If he is, he'll definitely turn on the team by the end of the movie, but that isn't the way they should go with this film. The Suicide Squad is ran and put together by Amanda "the Wall" Waller (potentially played by Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, or Oprah Winfrey) and she's not stupid. She wouldn't let the living embodiment of chaos loose in the field, even if there was a bomb in his head. That's why I believe the film can go one of two ways, and I'm not 100% sure which way I prefer.
1 ) C A M E O
The first way they could go is by giving the clown prince of crime a small, Hannibal Lecter-esque, cameo in the movie. The scene would parallel the Joker's first scene in the recent DC animated film Batman: Assault on Arkham (which was admittedly more of a Suicide Squad movie). In this scene, Deadshot (disguised as an Arkham guard) is taking Harley (who got herself arrested) to her cell when they pass Joker's cell and he notices her. The movie could give us something similar to this where her and Joker have a very intense and emotional moment. This appearance would not only give us a taste of what's to come in a Batman standalone film, but would be a great source of character development for Harley. The best part is that this will allow Harley to grow as a character and be introduced without Joker, who up until the new 52 was really her crutch. Crutch in the sense that she couldn't do anything without him. I like the more independent new 52 Harley and would love to see that Quinn in this movie, but c'mon. There has to be at least one appearance of the Joker in her theatrical debut.
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2 ) A N T A G O N I S T
The other option is having the Joker as the main antagonist of the film. This would be an opportunity to raise the Joker's threat level to a whole new height. Why would the Joker be the man the Squad is going after? Think about it like this. Who is the guy that who's made it his job to stop the Joker? Batman. Let's say in the past few months/years, whatever works better, Joker's been winning a little too much. Joker attempts a major feet and maybe Batman just doesn't win that one time, which causes something horrible to happen. Waller is fed up with Batman capturing Joker and putting him in prison, only to escape not too long after and start wreaking even more havoc. So Waller enacts Task Force X and sends the Squad after the Clown Prince of Crime, before he could do something horrendous.
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I'd be happy with either two of those. These two options aren ot only what I prefer, but what I realistically see happening in the 2016 film.
That's all for today's editorial guy's!!! Thanks for dropping by and visiting another one of Django "The Reddest Hood" Freeman's editorials!!! Press the big ass thumb button below this article, and comment your thoughts on my thoughts. What do you want to see form a DCCU Joker? I'd love to here your ideas, speculation, and theories. Thanks again, and as always....
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