Brian Truitt

USA TODAY

Sometimes being an insane supervillain on screen just means being an insane supervillain all the time.

That's the tactic taken by Jared Leto playing the Joker, Batman's archest of enemies and the true wild card of the dastardly bunch in the upcoming Suicide Squad (in theaters Aug. 5). Fans got a first glimpse of Leto's take on the infamous Clown Prince of Crime at Comic-Con, and a new trailer for the movie debuts as part of a The Dawn of the Justice League special on The CW tonight (9:30 ET/PT).

Deadshot (Will Smith), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and the Joker's former main squeeze Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) are more of an injustice league as they're teamed with other bad guys in a fighting unit formed to take on a powerful and mysterious adversary in Suicide Squad. Just how Leto's tattooed, green-haired, flamboyantly dressed weirdo plays into everything is still under wraps, though his castmates got a full dose of the Joker from the beginning: The Oscar-winning actor went completely method, gifting "presents" to actors before production started — Robbie received a rat, which became the cast's unofficial mascot — and never breaking character during filming.

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"It’s a scary character to tackle," Suicide Squad director David Ayer says of Joker. "This iteration of him, people will realize there really is a continuity of history — there is a lot of respect for what the Joker represents, who he is as a character. He is the best-known villain in fiction, so there’s an incredible responsibility there to also be faithful to what he is but at the same time push him into this next world, next time, next phase."

Ayer adds that "people kept their distance" from Leto when he was in 24/7 Joker mode. "I love helping actors find what methodology works best for them. It’s like tailoring a suit — it’s not one size fits all. But it really made an event when he would show up on set. There was almost a pageantry to him, which did translate into the power on screen he has."

Leto even freaked out Ayer a few times.

"Big time. The hairs stand up on the back of your neck," says the director, who grew up on the old 1960s Batman TV show. "If you're a Batman fan, you have to love/hate the Joker because he’s the best nemesis ever. Just to have him on one of my film sets, it was a very memorable thing for me."

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder, a Squad producer, never was on the Toronto set with Leto "but I was very much looped in on the crazy stuff happening with that," he says, laughing.

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What Leto brings to the Joker — the first on screen since the late Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning The Dark Knight baddie — is a fearless nature, Snyder says.

"The commitment to the role, you’re going to see that really shine through in a way that you’re not used to seeing actors in movies really go all the way with (in) every little moment and every little breath," Snyder says. "You’re going to get taken on a journey with Jared that I don’t know that everyone’s ready for but I think it will be amazing."