There's A New Joker Design (And Jared Leto Has A Lot To Answer For)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new Joker.

With Batman #1 heading into comic book stores in June after the events of forthcoming one-shot Rebirth #1 (from Scott Snyder and new writer Tom King), DC are unveiling a new version of the villain to herald their new beginning.

Rebirth is all about newness, with a mysterious new hero calling himself Gotham appearing to challenge Batman for top dog status in his city. And Batman #1 will follow suit, giving the Joker a fresh coat of paint that seems to have been heavily influenced by Jared Leto's Joker in Suicide Squad.

The first look comes courtesy of comic book artist Rafael Albuquerque, who posted the image on Instagram to reveal his exclusive variant cover for the magazine.

Obviously there are some differences: there's no tattoos (not visible ones anyway) and no pimp grill, but there's definitely a sense that he's caught somewhere between Leto and the Endgame version of The Joker.

It makes sense that Leto's look would be at least partly referenced on the page: DC need to be seen to be endorsing the message, even just a little, to help push Suicide Squad and the DC movie universe. And he doesn't look bad at all, so there can't be too many complaints.

What do you think of this new Joker look? Share your reactions below in the comments.