The new trailer for Joker, the forthcoming movie about the DC Comics villain of the same name, opens with a close-up of a sad man. (Well, it actually opens with sweeping views of the New York City skyline at dawn, but the sad man follows pretty quickly.) He’s dejected and talking to a Department of Health employee. “Does it help to have someone to talk to?” she asks.

Judging by what follows, it does not.

See, the Joker is moody. It is, of course, his mother’s fault – she always told him to smile and put on a happy face, the sad man laments. She told him he had a purpose: to bring laughter and joy to the world. What follows is a montage of the Joker dressed as a clown, trying to do just that – except the world will not have it. The Joker gets bullied. The Joker gets beaten up. The Joker gets called a freak. The Joker tries to smile, but he just can’t – and while the trailer only hints at the devastating consequences that rejection will have on his psyche, the outcomes are well known to those who have watched one of the many films in which the Joker features.

As a character, the Joker has acquired a bit of a fan following over the years. His popularity has been bolstered by the performances of Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and Jared Leto – and soon Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the title role in Joker. And while I’m sure DC’s forthcoming film will find its audience, it’s hard not to notice that dedicating an entire standalone film to the Joker (and possibly a couple of sequels if it does well enough) contributes to romanticising one of the most toxic archetypes of pop culture.

It bears reminding that the Joker is, at his core, a psychopath, a mass murderer, a terrorist, and an all-around bad guy. His portrayal varies slightly from one film to the next, and from one comic book to the next, but you can be pretty sure that at some point he’s going to commit a crime and/or kill someone, and that he will enjoy it. He’s the quintessential toxic man. If you need proof, just watch 2016’s Suicide Squad, in which Jared Leto’s Joker submits his girlfriend Harley Quinn to “tests” before letting her into his life. The ultimate test, by the way, comes when he turns to her and asks: “Would you die for me?” (Of course she would.)

To be clear, the Joker is a great villain. There’s no denying it. That in itself isn’t nefarious: pop culture has always needed bad guys, and superhero films are the perfect outlet to have a bit of fun with them. But what is harmful with the Joker isn’t how bad he is, it’s why he’s bad: he’s either a bitter loser or a misunderstood, tortured soul – or perhaps a bit of both. He wasn’t born this way, not completely: it was others who made him like that.

We are hardwired to respond to that narrative. First, there’s something compelling about sad clowns. It’s a gimmick that works all too well. But then there’s also the fact that so many women have been conditioned to think of toxic behaviour as charming, and as something that’s not their partner’s fault. There is something sexy about the Joker (there’s a reason why people get tattoos of his face). On some level, you want to hold him until the pain goes away. That’s the purpose assigned to so many female characters: be that breath of fresh air in a tortured man’s life. Fix him. Make him feel seen. Make him feel understood. Dedicate your own life to holding him up.

But here’s the thing: you’ve already met the Joker, and he wasn’t nearly as interesting or attractive in real life. Perhaps you didn’t realise he was the Joker, because he didn’t look like Heath Ledger or Jared Leto. Perhaps he smoked or vaped. Perhaps his favourite book was Infinite Jest – or was it Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being? Perhaps he wanted to show you the world. There were books he wanted you to read and music you just had to listen to. Few people understood him. He was trying his best, but the world just seemed to be against him. All he wanted was a special soul who would finally get him – and how lucky were you that he had picked you?

The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best Show all 7 1 /7 The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best 7. Suicide Squad (2016) It’s the film that crawled straight out of a Hot Topic fever dream, threatening to rain down chaos and chain wallets on us all. Granted, it wasn’t so hard to fall for the charms of its marketing campaign. Released in the grim haze left behind by Batman v Superman (more on that later), Suicide Squad looked us in the eye and promised us an antidote to what had come before. It told us it would be the neon-splattered, anarchist baby brother of the DCEU. All that arrived was the adolescent part. Too much of Suicide Squad is spent on its over-edited character introductions: each arrives on screen with a classic rock track blaring and some meaningless onscreen text (what’s the point of Captain Boomerang’s “unicorn fetish”, again?). All ultimately wasted once the (anti-)heroes are tasked with defeating the DCEU’s most half-baked villain, The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). She’s a character so devoid of interest, the worst crime she’s guilty of is piss-poor archeology skills. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best 6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Although more cohesive in its vision than Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman suffers because that vision is almost entirely delusional. What is presented to us as a philosophical epic – a treatise on morality and personal responsibility – is instantly undone by a series of ludicrous decisions on the part of the film’s director, Zack Snyder. Chief among them, the now-infamous reason that Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) finally stop pummelling each other and decide to become super friends: their mothers were both called Martha. And why again did Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) have any interest in making these two titans fight? The film’s plot is wildly incoherent, but it only becomes a true chore after the realisation that even Gal Gadot’s introduction as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman isn’t enough to lighten the film’s funereal tone. Rex Features The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best 5. Justice League (2017) Justice League contains, at its heart, a story that was only half-realised. Zack Snyder stepped down from his duties as director, following the tragic death of his daughter, Autumn. They were intensely difficult circumstances that didn’t necessarily come with easy answers for the future of Justice League. Warner Bros, however, made an odd choice in inviting Joss Whedon to complete the film. The quip-heavy, energetic style he brought to Marvel’s Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron clashed abrasively with the weightiness of what Snyder had already shot. Yet, Justice League at least has the advantage of showcasing the characters that the DCEU has now bet their future on, with charismatic turns from Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, and Ezra Miller’s The Flash. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best 4. Man of Steel (2013) As the onscreen debut of Cavill’s Superman, Man of Steel at least benefits from a fairly straightforward, linear storyline that duly ticks off the various demands of an origin story. Elements of the film feel over laboured: the Jesus imagery is excessive for a character whose parallels with a religious saviour are already obvious, Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner)’s death scene seems unnecessary, and the film concludes with a seemingly endless destruction fest. Yet, after Superman IV: Quest for Peace (1987) and Superman Returns (2006) turned the franchise into a joke, an approach as sombre as that of director Zack Snyder felt right for the character at the time, flaws aside. Whether he made the right choice in violating Superman’s usual no-kill policy, by having him snap General Zod (Michael Sheen)’s neck, is up for (usually lengthy) debate. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best 3. Aquaman (2018) Aquaman is far from perfect, but credit has to be given to director James Wan for taking such a huge risk with the film and standing by it, even in its most ludicrous excesses. This is a bombastic adventure. And it’s all anchored by its star Jason Momoa, who manages to turn a character who, for years, has been the butt of the joke, into DC’s new party jock hero. Momoa made the man-who-talks-to-fish cool. Unfortunately, it’s also an audience divider: either you buy into the giant crab warriors and the octopus playing drums, or you get distracted by the lazy plotting and the weak dialogue. Unfortunately, beneath all the fishy visuals, the film’s story gets swamped by exposition and an unconvincing central romance. AP The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best 2. Shazam! (2019) Shazam! centres on a troubled 14-year-old orphan (Asher Angel) who has the power to transform into a Superman-type character (a visibly delighted Zachary Levi) by saying the film's title. Borrowing heavily from Tom Hanks's Big, the film breezes along, playfully skewering superhero tropes and concluding with a light-hearted, low-stakes climax. Sure, there are segments that drag, and the superhero fights are a little too long, but Shazam! finally gives the world a coherent and fun DCEU film. With this and Aquaman having been released back-to-back, the darkness of Snyder's Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman seems but a fever dream. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked – worst to best 1. Wonder Woman (2017) When Patty Jenkins entered the ring to direct Wonder Woman’s first solo film since her inception in 1941, she brought something to the DCEU that arguably hadn’t been seen before. Wonder Woman has heart. It’s a film filled with characters you can believe in, root for, and idolise. Although it stumbles at times – its main villain is dull, its side villain is under-used, and its finale relies far too much on CGI – those weaknesses pale in comparison to how beautifully crafted Wonder Woman’s own personal journey is. We see what courage and sacrifice represents, and what it means to fight for the good of others. It’s a rare thing to see a superhero film place at its centre the true ideals of heroism – kindness, justice, and love – and have them all embodied in one character. And with Gal Gadot exuding both power and compassion in equal measure, it’s no wonder that so many uphold her as the bright spot of the DCEU. Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Entertainment via APAP

We all have a bit of the Joker in us. It is tempting to think that our failures are the result not of our own shortcomings, but of other people’s misconceptions. It’s a natural defense mechanism, and sometimes it’s justified. Who hasn’t felt like the Joker at least once over the course of their life? It’s hard to watch the new trailer and not think of at least one instance of childhood bullying. Who hasn’t been taunted for standing out? Who hasn’t been called a freak, or an equivalent insult? (If you answered “me” to any of these questions, feel free to drop me an email, I have about 100 questions for you.)

But the Joker isn’t a child. He’s a grown man. And yes, I am aware that he’s fictional, but here’s why I still care: when people see themselves on a screen, they feel vindicated. Most of the time, that is a very good thing (think Black Panther, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, who all filled huge gaps in the pop culture landscape).

But I worry – not to the point that it’s keeping me up at night, but still – that some toxic guy will watch this film and think: “See? There’s nothing wrong with me. There is beauty in my chaos. I am the chaos. I am the beauty. The ends justify the means.”