Suicide Squad producer Charles Roven has said of Letos Joker that hes: More social... a very successful and smart businessman besides being a sociopath. It sounds like hes diverged from the blood-and-thunder intimidation which Ledgers Joker was characterised by, and has become a more slippery villain entirely. He sounds more like a Patrick Bateman than the kind of glorified gangster his predecessor was at times, though admittedly Patrick Bateman didnt signpost his malevolence by having HAHAHAHAHAHA scrawled all over his shoulders. The trailer might appear to give the lie to the idea of Letos Joker being a superficially lovely chap (as a rule, nice guys dont make threats about really, really hurting people) but just because he indulges in a little bit of light torturing doesnt necessarily mean that Leto isnt pushing the Joker into a subtler, more Machiavellian mode. The Empire cover feature also tells us that Leto prepared for the role by reading up on his Shamanic lore; if thats not a sign that hes going to play up the charismatic, persuasive side then I dont know what is. Ledgers Joker was extraordinarily charismatic, sure, but he didnt use it to execute his plans; he much preferred to rely on massive wads of cash as a social binder, preferring not to trust such fanciful notions as friendship and loyalty. He revelled in seeing the world as inherently absurd; Letos might see this flawed model as one which is ripe to be exploited rather than scorned. What do you expect from Leto? Can he actually top Ledger? Let us know down in the comments.
