The first whiff of Jared Leto’s new take on The Joker came during the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice panel at this past weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con. During the unveiled trailer for the film, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne staring at his bulky Batsuit, and scribbled all over it in neon writing is: “HAHAHA JOKE’S ON YOU BATMAN”—clearly the mark of The Joker, and a good sign that the green-haired maniac will cameo in the film.
Which brings us to Suicide Squad. We already know that David Ayer’s (End of Watch) supervillain team-up flick, due in theaters August 5, 2016, will feature Affleck’s Batman hunting Leto’s Joker during an intense chase sequence. And Ayer brought his entire ensemble cast—minus Leto—along with him to Comic-Con to discuss the antihero film. The cast includes Will Smith (Deadshot), Leto (Joker), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Boomerang), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), and more.
“The opportunity to take on this nearly Shakespearean character—that’s what graphic novels and comic books are becoming, right?” Leto previously said of why he accepted the role. “[He’s] this beautiful disaster of a character—what a big challenge.”
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Of course, Leto has some pretty big shoes to fill—that of the late Heath Ledger, who won a posthumous Oscar for his final screen role in The Dark Knight, and Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s original Batman.
Ayer and his cast then unleashed a trailer for Suicide Squad on unsuspecting panelgoers. Set to an eerie take on the Bee Gees’ “I Started a Joke,” it features a glimpse at all the new characters, a brief flash of the Batsuit, and ends with the first look at Jared Leto’s Joker—and he looks insane.UPDATE: Warner Bros. posted the actual HD footage, which you can watch below:
