Let's be honest. When David Ayer first tweeted that image of Jared Leto covered in tattoos with "Damaged" scrawled across his forehead, the internet didn't just break—it recoiled. It was 2015. We were still living in the massive, somber shadow of Heath Ledger’s definitive performance. Then came the Joker from Suicide Squad, a neon-drenched, grill-wearing gangster that looked more like a SoundCloud rapper than a comic book anarchist. It was a choice. A loud one.
People hated it. Or they loved the audacity. There wasn't much middle ground.
Years later, the conversation around this specific iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime hasn't actually died down. If anything, it’s gotten weirder. Between the "Ayer Cut" movement on social media and the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, we've started to see what this version was supposed to be before the studio's editing scissors got involved.
The Aesthetic Gamble: Tattoos, Grills, and Purple Lambos
The look was the first hurdle. Traditionally, Joker is a suit-and-tie kind of maniac. He's dapper. But the Joker from Suicide Squad was built for a different world—a gritty, urban underworld where status is measured by ink and jewelry. David Ayer has been vocal about the inspiration, citing modern-day drug lords and cartel aesthetics. The tattoos weren't just random doodles; they were meant to tell a story of a man who had been institutionalized and branded.
The "Damaged" tattoo is the one everyone mocks. It’s on the nose. It's basically a neon sign saying "I am edgy." But if you look at the lore Ayer was building, Joker had his teeth smashed out by Batman after murdering Jason Todd. That’s why he has the silver grills. It wasn't just a fashion choice; it was a physical scar from a previous war with the Dark Knight.
Is it subtle? No. Not even a little bit.
But Joker isn't exactly a subtle character. He’s a theatrical narcissist. This version just happened to shop at high-end boutiques and hang out in VIP lounges instead of abandoned toy factories. It reflected a 2016 cultural moment where "streetwear" was merging with "supervillainy."
Method Madness or Marketing Hype?
The stories from the set of Suicide Squad are legendary. We've all heard them. The used condoms. The dead pig dropped in the rehearsal room. The live rat sent to Margot Robbie. Jared Leto went full method, refusing to break character for the entire duration of the shoot.
📖 Related: Despicable Me 2 Edith: Why the Middle Child is Secretly the Best Part of the Movie
Honestly, it sounds exhausting.
Will Smith, who played Deadshot, famously said he never actually met Jared Leto until the movie was finished. He only ever met the Joker. While this built a massive amount of hype before the film's release, the actual screen time didn't seem to justify the intensity of the preparation. When the movie finally hit theaters, the Joker from Suicide Squad was only in it for about 10 to 15 minutes.
That’s a lot of dead pigs for a cameo.
This led to a massive disconnect. Fans expected a lead antagonist. Instead, they got a glorified sub-plot about a toxic boyfriend trying to get his girl back. The performance itself was twitchy, breathy, and erratic. It felt more like an animal than a criminal mastermind. Some found it mesmerizingly repulsive. Others found it annoying.
Why the "Ayer Cut" Matters
You can't talk about this character without mentioning the heavy-handed editing by Warner Bros. Following the backlash to Batman v Superman, the studio got spooked. They wanted Suicide Squad to be "Guardians of the Galaxy" with villains. They hired a trailer editing house to help cut the film.
The result? Much of Leto’s performance was left on the cutting room floor.
Leaked scripts and behind-the-scenes footage show a much darker, more abusive relationship between Joker and Harley Quinn. In the theatrical cut, they look like a weirdly devoted power couple. In the original vision, Joker was supposed to be much more of a villainous presence, eventually turning against the Squad in the final act.
👉 See also: Death Wish II: Why This Sleazy Sequel Still Triggers People Today
The Toxic Romance Problem
For better or worse, the Joker from Suicide Squad redefined how the general public viewed Joker and Harley Quinn. Before 2016, they were a niche comic book duo known for a deeply abusive dynamic. After the movie? They became #RelationshipGoals for a very specific (and slightly worrying) segment of the internet.
The film romanticized them. It turned the Joker into a guy who would literally jump into a vat of acid to save his girlfriend.
This was a massive departure from the source material. In the comics, Joker treats Harley like a disposable tool. By making him a "pimp" figure who was obsessed with her, the movie changed the stakes. It made him vulnerable. It gave him a motivation other than just "chaos." Some fans appreciated the humanization; others felt it neutered the character's terrifying unpredictability.
Justice League and the Redemptive Arc
In 2021, we got a glimpse of what could have been. Zack Snyder brought Leto back for the "Knightmare" sequence in his four-hour cut of Justice League.
The difference was night and day.
Gone were the tattoos (mostly) and the purple coat. This Joker was weary, long-haired, and genuinely unsettling. The dialogue between him and Ben Affleck’s Batman in that post-apocalyptic wasteland felt more "Joker" than anything in the 2016 film. It was a conversation about loss, identity, and the symbiotic nature of their relationship.
"I often wonder, in how many alternate timelines do you destroy the world because, frankly, you don't have the cajones to die yourself?"
✨ Don't miss: Dark Reign Fantastic Four: Why This Weirdly Political Comic Still Holds Up
That line alone felt more sophisticated than anything he muttered in Suicide Squad. It proved that Leto could play a compelling Joker when given the right script and a clearer directorial vision.
Legacy of the Purple Lambo
So, where does that leave the Joker from Suicide Squad?
It’s the black sheep of the DC filmography. It’s the version that launched a thousand Halloween costumes but zero solo movies. Joaquin Phoenix and Barry Keoghan have since moved the character back toward the "disturbed loner" archetype, making Leto’s "gangster kingpin" look like a strange fever dream from a decade ago.
But it remains a fascinating case study in how branding, studio interference, and method acting can collide. It wasn't a failure of talent; it was a failure of cohesion.
What You Should Do Next
If you actually want to understand this version of the character beyond the memes, there are a few things worth checking out.
First, watch the Extended Cut of Suicide Squad. It’s not a different movie, but it restores a few key scenes that give the Joker-Harley dynamic more room to breathe. You’ll see a bit more of the "push and pull" that was missing from the theatrical release.
Second, seek out the Suicide Squad behind-the-scenes documentaries. Regardless of what you think of the performance, the craftsmanship—the makeup, the custom-built cars, the wardrobe—is objectively impressive. The "damaged" look was an incredible feat of production design, even if the creative direction wasn't for everyone.
Finally, compare the Suicide Squad performance directly with the Zack Snyder’s Justice League cameo. It is a masterclass in how much a director's tone affects an actor's output. Seeing the same actor play the same character in two wildly different ways provides a rare look at the mechanics of blockbuster filmmaking.
The Joker from Suicide Squad might not be the "best" Joker, but he is undoubtedly the loudest. And in the world of comic book movies, sometimes being memorable is just as important as being "right."