How Jared Leto's Joker Compares to DC Comics So Far

08/02/2015 12:00 pm EDT

Let's be blunt: The Joker is arguably the best villain in the history of comics. He's been imagined as a psychopath, as a gangster, as a murderous anarchist, a joke-playing clown, and nuanced--and maybe even misunderstood---damaged soul. Writers from all media have made him funny, terrifying, sadistic, masochistic, erratic, and controlled.

But somehow, he's always The Joker.

Let's be blunt again: we don't know much about how Jared Leto will portray the character in Suicide Squad. The movie so far has a few still shots and one sizzle reel-style trailer created from uncut footage for Comic-Con International: San Diego 2015. But for now, we'll use that to attempt to compare him to the Joker we've seen in the comics.

We know that Leto's Joker is sadistic. In Squad's trailer, he tells an unseen victim who he is preparing to torture, "I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to hurt you really, really bad." It's the biggest, most extensive indicator of the Joker that we'll see in the film, and the new, modern DC Cinematic universe. So let's focus on that Joker in the comics.

The most famous example of that version of the character came in the story that culminated in 1988's Batman #427: "A Death in the Family." In this tale, The Joker kidnapped the second Robin, Jason Todd. He tortured Todd, beating him with a crowbar, and even making his estranged mother watch. The sadism demonstrated there is far from the only case; most of the time, it's aimed at someone close to Batman, to hurt Batman himself in a roundabout way. The Joker also shot Barbara Gordon through the spine, crippling her. He also (more recently) systematically kidnapped and tortured all of Batman's associates. It's something that certainly has been the defining factor of his character for the last thirty years, though his torturous ways, primarily psychologically, go back to the origins of the character.

So what else do we know? We know his appearance is lean and muscular. The only truly muscular version of the Joker came in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, a story that already has its teeth firmly in the thigh of the new DC Cinematic Universe, thanks to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The lithe yet muscular body also implies that this Joker is a fighter, something that has come in and out of the character over the years. In the character's first appearance, Batman #1 in 1940, the Joker fought Batman to a standstill in hand-to-hand combat, even besting him (albeit temporarily). In Batman #40, the Joker's most recent appearance (just a few months back), he again fought hand-to-hand with Batman. Regardless of Batman's general physical superiority, the Joker managed to again use his chaotic style of fighting to best the Bat with stabs, slashes, and a leaping, flipping style that lets him land blows before Batman can even catch up (don't worry, purists, Batman was heavily drugged at the time, too).

His style is fairly similar to those most recent appearances, too. The ever-so-slightly gaunt face, the high-and-tight green hair, and even the disturbingly open-eyed stare that are part of Leto's look are all present in this redesign by Greg Capullo.

There's also a general aesthetic to the Suicide Squad, with Joker's flashy car and Harley's bombshell sequined dress on display in the trailer, on top of a dark and disturbing overall look, brings to mind Joker, the Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo graphic novel that introduced a Joker who was more of a direct gangster style character (which actually harkens back to his old days), but in a distinctly modern setting. That Joker was cold and calculated – until he wasn't. He snapped back and forth between being a calm general to his gang, over to ruthlessly butchering an elderly couple just so he could lay down in their bed (and, um, in their blood).

So what Joker stories should you read in order to get to know Jared Leto's version? Well, the ones above should be a good start, but here's the rub: nothing's going to be exact. Every version of The Joker, every time he "dies" or disappears for awhile, he comes back different. We have literally seconds of footage to go off of here, after all. It's also worth checking in on Harley Quinn, of course; the way that the Joker interacts with her is often a good indication of which version of the Clown Prince of Crime himself we'll most likely see.

What do you hope to see of Jared Leto's take on The Joker in Suicide Squad? Sound off in the comments!

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