Jared Leto tried to "redefine" the Joker in Suicide Squad

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There were multiple references to the Joker in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but we'll have to wait until Suicide Squad to be fully reintroduced to Batman's arch-nemesis. The latest actor to play the Clown Prince of Crime is Jared Leto, and although the Oscar-winner admits he hasn't quite formulated his thoughts on playing the character, the iconic nature of the role is not lost on him.

"The work that’s been done on this character by so many people before me has been so impactful, so incredible, so much fun, so profound, so risky, that it’s a very special thing to be asked to take on that responsibility", Leto told Entertainment Weekly. "It's a weighty thing to do. But it’s exciting. The Joker is one of those roles. He was written brilliantly when he was first shared with the world 75 years ago, or something crazy like that. And I think I’m just really grateful I had the opportunity."

"You just knew you had to do something different", Leto continued. "You had to make it your own. That happens all the time. Whether you’re a composer working on a piece of music that was written a century ago, or you’re an actor on stage, reinterpreting a play, it’s very common these days. Directors take on great works of cinema, actors reinterpret roles, that’s been going on for a great deal of time. From Scarface to Hamlet. In some ways it’s really interesting to reinterpret, redefine."

Everything we've seen and heard from Suicide Squad so far makes it look like David Ayer's film will be a riot, which makes the recent report of reshoots to make the movie more fun a little surprising. In any case I'm really looking forward to Leto's take on the Joker, which already looks very different from past interpretations of the character.

Directed by David Ayer and starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, and Joel Kinnaman, Suicide Squad will open in the UK and US on August 5, 2016.

Images: Warner Bros

Amon Warmann
Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.