‘Suicide Squad’ Star Jared Leto Wants To Make Heath Ledger Proud As The Joker, Plus New Plot Twists And Secrets Revealed

With Suicide Squad set to open in August of 2016, Jared Leto will join the ranks as yet another actor to play the iconic role of the Joker. The images and trailers that have been released so far have shown that Leto’s portrayal of the green haired villain will be different than any previous version. Despite this unique quality Leto brings to the part, the actor has assured fans that his version is certain to do past portrayals justice.

In fact, the actor recently re-posted an image on his Instagram account that featured two versions of the Joker played by Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. The photo was captioned with “Don’t worry. Leto will make us proud.”

“Great work @gaunted! Was wondering who made it! Amazing. I see a few thought It was me but it wasn’t. Just thought it was clever sweet + fun,” Leto wrote alongside the post.

As many will recall, Nicholson portrayed the villain back in the 1989 film, Batman, starring Michael Keaton. More recently, Heath Ledger offered one of the most memorable portrayals of the Joker in the 2008 movie, The Dark Knight.

For his part, it is well known that Leto spared nothing when it came to diving into his character for Suicide Squad. In addition to never breaking his character while filming took place, the actor also sent some of his co-stars some special Joker-inspired gifts. This included a rat he sent to Margot Robbie, who will appear in the movie as Harley Quinn.

In speaking about the role with Entertainment Weekly, Leto shared just how involved he was in playing the role of the Joker. “There was definitely a period of … detachment,” he stated. “I took a pretty deep dive. But this was a unique opportunity and I couldn’t imagine doing it another way. It was fun, playing those psychological games.”

Meanwhile, with the release of the film still half a year away, more spoilers have leaked concerning the main storyline of the movie. In regards to the Joker, What Culture is reporting that an alliance may be in the works between Leto’s character and Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Despite not being spotted on set, which few actors managed given the outside nature of the production of Suicide Squad, Eisenberg’s part in the movie has been known for quite some time. That being said, exactly what Luthor’s role in the movie has remained a mystery.

Aside from the idea of something being stolen from LexCorp or Luthor attempting to track down Enchantress for himself, there is an interesting rumor involving a possible partnership between the Joker and Luthor. While this would be unprecedented, even in the comics, it would be a nice way to tie the film in with Batman v Superman.

Of course, the biggest secret about the movie involves the idea that Dick Grayson is the Joker. While this theory has certainly drawn its fair share of controversy with fans, another interesting spoiler involves Harley Quinn being romantically involved with Batman.

It has already been revealed that Quinn’s backstory will be explained in the film. In the movie, Quinn used to be Dr. Harleen Quinzel before the Joker twisted her mind via electroconvulsive therapy. This contrasts with the comic books, where Quinn made the decision to turn evil all on her own.

With that in mind, it is possible that producers will twist her story even further and add a past relationship between her and Batman. Either way, it is clear that her story is set to be just as different and unique and Leto’s version of the Joker.

Suicide Squad is set to hit theaters on August 5, 2016.

Tell us! Do you think that Jared Leto’s version of the Joker in Suicide Squad can live up to Heath Ledger’s or Jack Nicholson’s version? Let us know in the comments below.

[Image via David Ayer/Twitter]