Early Concept Art Of Jared Leto In 'Suicide Squad' Shows The Joker As Less Gangster And More Showman

The Suicide Squad audience tends to be torn over the movie, whether or not it was any good, if certain characters should've been given more screen time, and whether or not there was enough Joker or if we got too much of something that was a little over the top as far as #JaredLeto's Joker went. Most fans went into it expecting a Joker-centric film, but what we got instead was about five minutes of the Joker in the midst of a lot of crazy antics and a villain that ended up a bit sub-par after certain scenes were removed.

The controversy about the #Joker started early on, namely about the strange new look for the character that had fans up in arms. When the first image was released online, many fans immediately started bashing it, as well as creating parody photos.

But as with all character designs, the final design wasn't the first one and there were various version of the character that ultimately got scrapped. Tina Charad, the graphic costume designer/illustrator for the movie, just released some of her early concept art, and, well...it could have been weirder — a lot weirder, as it turns out.

Leto's Joker did make some, uh, interesting fashion choices in the film, including many scenes with no shirt on under his jacket. But it seemed that his initial design was much more flamboyant, a little less street criminal and a little more Liberace with glitter and clashing patterns.

His tattoos were originally much more over-the-top as well, with far too many "ha-ha-ha"s as a nod to The Killing Joke graphic novel.

It is interesting, however, to see the color scheme of his original tattoos, which is much more Harley Quinn than the Joker, with the red and black as well as the lettering font on his actual name. Although it is kind of nice to see her represented there on his shoulder, something tells me that she had a hand in his tattoos, which clearly has to do with the whole early storylines of her having a tattoo parlor that was ultimately mostly scrapped. It's also worth nothing the teeth that Batman knocked out of him represented on his neck — definitely an intriguing touch.

Judging from the last few designs above, it seems clear they were looking to go with a strong purple-and-gold color scheme for Joker at one point, too. And, apparently, more of a vaudeville circus ringmaster look.

Given how many fans thought that his acting and looks were a little much, I can see why they decided to change the look to a slightly simpler design, though it would have been interesting to see these outfits on screen. Perhaps they will show up the next time the Joker does, maybe in the solo #HarleyQuinn film? We'll see.

[Source: Gizmodo]