7 Little Known Tics That Defined Jared Leto's Joker Performance

7. His Tattoos Are A Joker Museum

As soon as Leto's Joker look was unveiled, there was an immediate and biting response to what was very quickly dubbed his juggalo pimp aesthetic. The grill took some serious heat but it was the tattoos that came in for the most sustained criticism. But as David Ayer confirmed, the tattoos tell their own story and they're a very conscious visual clue to Leto channelling the source material.

Ayer told Yahoo! Movies UK that all of his tattoos refer to key moments in the character's history:

The tattoos tell a very specific story. And eventually people will decipher them and understand whats going on, but obviously theyre contentious, any time you do something new its contentious. Theres very specific stories and Easter eggs in those tattoos. And even his teeth, theres an entire story behind that which is absolutely canon. Its putting his history on his body. This Joker is a little more working class, who I believe could live in our world.

The J refers to the same branding Mr J gives Jason Todd in the Arkham game series, he has a dead robin on his bicep and a skewered Bat-symbol on the other referring to The Joker stabbing Batman in The Dark Knight Returns. The majority of the major designs in some way symbolise his comics lore and story history and that's a major thing considering how many accusations there were that this fundamentally "wasn't the Joker fans knew."

In contrast, the tattoos are a living reminder that he is deeply rooted in the comics and that his perhaps unconventional portrayal is carefully constructed in those terms.

You can read a full run-down of all of his tattoos and their meanings here.