Suicide Squad: 8 Reasons Jared Leto's Joker Is The Worst Part Of The Film

In the past three-quarters of a century, the Joker has become something of an archetype, able to fit into a wide of range of different sub-roles. We're all accustomed to the completely unhinged version who serves as the reverse of Batman's coin thanks to most films, TV and games riffing on the Bronze Age iteration cemented by The Killing Joke, but that's not how the character was always presented; in the Golden Age he was a theatrical career criminal, while in the Silver Age he morphed into a less intense prankster.

In that regard, Leto feels like he's come from that Golden Age; he's presented as a violent, successful mob boss with all the unpredictability a century of gangster cinema has taught us to expect. It's a nice idea, I guess, but in this universe rooted heavily in the late-80s maturing of comics (key inspirations have been The Dark Knight Returns, Death In The Family and The Death Of Superman) and the New 52, that's not enough to call him the Joker.

There's no insanity, no presence to fear as long as you keep out of his way. He is, essentially, not a complete character.