The Joker is the prime Batman villain. Everybody knows him. From the very youngest to the very ancient, the Joker is just one crazy super-villain that ranks up there with the worst of the worst. Mighty lofty boots to fill, no? It was no surprise the casting of Jared Leto for the iconic Clown Prince of Crime was met with a significant amount of clamor. However, it sounds like there isn’t much to worry about according to early reviews and just the general amount of respect his fellow cast-members had for him. After all, he did send them ‘lovely gifts’ which is a loose Joker translation for ‘dead animals’. How thoughtful!
In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Jared Leto spoke about what it was like and what he would like to do with the character…which apparently includes fighting Batman! We knew that was coming, right? To that regard Jared Leto said, “I think it would be incredible to see Batman and the Joker go head-to-head! This Batman and this Joker. I mean, I don’t know, that might be too much! But that would be fun.” Hopefully the Joker has an insane pain tolerance because the Ben Affleck Batman looks like he really likes to inflict harm in all sorts of fantastic ways. I’m thinking of that scene in Batman V Superman where Batman plants that one guy into the table while leaping over said table.
One thing is for certain though – the Joker is prolific and must be approached with the utmost of care. This goes for both the portrayal and ‘essence’ of the character. “I think the Joker is iconic for a number of reasons. He was the perfect villain from the start for Batman’s hero,” stated Leto. “You obviously wouldn’t have the success of the Joker without Batman. They are two sides to a coin. Batman is the stoic, restrained, thoughtful, black-and-white character, figuratively and literally. He is stiff, a suit of armor without color and much celebration. And the Joker is the complete opposite of that!”
“The good thing about there having been such strong, beautiful interpretations of the character before — by actors, artists and writers — is that you knew what direction not to head in,” he added. “That’s already been covered! You know, Heath gave a perfect performance. Not only one of the best villains ever on screen, but I believe one of the best performances ever! It’s perfect. It’s just perfect. There’s not a flaw. There’s not a missed note. There’s not a moment when you’re not with him and the character. For me, it was so untouchable that, at a certain point, I was almost at ease because I knew there was nothing I could do to go near that.”
He continued, “And then you’ve got Jack Nicholson and then you’ve got this beautiful voice acting from Mark Hamill (for the animated versions). But they’re all so different. They’re all their own thing. So I still felt the pressure to deliver but I also felt that there was such a map of where we shouldn’t be going.” At least it sounds like Jared Leto really respects the role and we can’t wait to see the movie this week!
Suicide Squad opens up on August 5th, 2016 and stars Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood and Cara Delevingne.
