The design of Jared Leto's Joker for Suicide Squad was inspired by Instagram drug lords, director David Ayer has revealed.

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"A lot of it has to do with creating a character with some kind of history and footprint in our world, and not have this sacrosanct being outside of our continuum, our reality," Ayer said in an interview with Yahoo (via Birth.Movies.Death. ), noting he wanted Joker's look to be representative of the world today. "In my mind, I took a lot of inspiration from drug lords on Instagram. It’s a great way to understand the lifestyle of a villain."The director went on to specifically address the character's tattoos, saying they "tell a very specific story" and contain easter eggs. "Eventually people will decipher them and understand what’s going on, but obviously they’re contentious," Ayer acknowledged, adding, "any time you do something new it’s contentious."He also spoke to another one of Joker's controversial features, his teeth, saying, "there’s an entire story behind that which is absolutely canon. It’s putting his history on his body. This Joker is a little more working class, who I believe could live in our world."What do you make of Leto's take on the Joker? Let us know in the comments, and for more on Suicide Squad ahead of its August 5 debut, find out why playing Joker was the most fun Leto's ever had on a movie.

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and subscribe to him on YouTube