Suicide Squad: 11 Key Influences You'll See In Jared Leto's Joker
2. Jason Rouse
It might seem an odd suggestion, but there's a pretty pressing claim that Leto's Joker is based on Canadian comedian Jason Rouse. As Ben Miner so smartly suggested, everything from the grills, the tatts and the darkness are exactly what makes Rouse's act so popular. He's a phenomenon, unhinged and provocative in the same way you'd expect the Joker to be, and if someone was to suggest that Joker had started out as the grill-wearing comedian in an alternate universe Killing Joke, you probably wouldn't bat an eyelid. As Miner says, the similarities are too big to be accidental:
"Am I really saying that the production ripped off Jasons look? Sorta. I think they were at least influenced by it. The fact is, Jason lives in LA now, where he plays all the important clubs and shows. Not to mention, hes done a bunch of stuff on TV on channels like HBO. It isnt unlikely that someone from the production came across one of his sets either on tv, online or in person. Maybe they found his picture doing a Google image search for insane stand up comic or something."
It would certainly be an interesting thread to the narrative.
