But how does this new Joker measure up, once you scrape away all the hype and babble? It seems that some people hated him while others loved him, which is probably exactly how Mr J would want it. And even after seing the film, this new Joker is still just as mysterious as he was before…

The Look

Leto’s Joker has been a divisive figure from the start. Even when all we’d seen was a few seconds of trailer footage and a couple of still images, the internet was ablaze with discussion. The new look was certainly a surprise. Gone is the untraceable colorful garb of Heath Ledger’s take, replaced with a more…stylish ensemble. The new Joker is the sort of man who’d wear a lengthy purple leather jacket with nothing underneath. Madness, indeed.

He’s also the kind of chap who would get the word “damaged” tattooed on his own forehead, as well as a grin on his hand and “hahahahahaha” on one of his pectorals. From all of this it’s easy to see that this new Joker is highly self-aware. This, again, differentiates Leto’s take from the big screen version that came immediately before.

While Ledger’s Joker was dressed rather simply in a suit, adding to the enigma of his mysterious and ambiguous past, Leto’s Joker has decked himself out in a series of tattoos that serve as logos (as well as the smiles and laughter, there’s also clown paraphernalia and even a great big JOKER across his abs).

This is a guy who seems to think of himself as a brand. He sees himself as an icon, to the point that he’s taken the time to sit patiently and have nods to his own iconography tattooed on his skin. Seriously, those things must have taken hours upon hours to complete. He probably has to go in for touch-ups now and again, too, to stop the color from fading.