Suicide Squad Director Admits He Went Too Far With Joker’s Tattoos

Suicide Squad was an odd little blockbuster. Despite receiving awful reviews, it exceeded expectations at the box office, but Warner Bros. have been pretty coy about putting a sequel or spinoff into production. Now, it seems that director David Ayer has resigned himself to not working on future projects in the franchise and has been going on Twitter to answer questions about the film’s production.

One interesting response today came from a fan who asked: “What was the inspiration behind “damaged” tattoo on joker’s forehead, was it your idea?” To which Ayer replied: “Yes I have to fall on that sword. It was one step too far.”

While Leto’s Joker wasn’t exactly received with universal acclaim, I really enjoyed the scuzzy alt-gangster take on the character. He reminded me of James Franco’s Alien in Spring Breakers, with Ayer claiming at the time that he’d taken inspiration from drug lords posting pictures of their opulent lifestyles on Instagram.

The director also said the following about Mr. J’s appearance a while back:

“There’s very specific stories and Easter eggs in those tattoos. And even his teeth, there’s an entire story behind that which is absolutely canon. It’s putting his history on his body. This Joker is a little more working class, who I believe could live in our world.”

It’s a neat take on the character. My only regret is that the Joker felt like he’d been awkwardly bolted onto the side of Suicide Squad‘s narrative, popping in and out of the plot and not having much to do with the central story. Thankfully, then, we might get to see a more focused take on what Ayer and Leto were trying to achieve in Joker and Harley Quinn, whose script has just been turned in.

With hype swirling around Joaquin Phoenix’s take on the character in Joker and Jared Leto signing on for a role in Morbius, though, I have a sneaking suspicion that his days in the purple suit and green hair are over. But, as ever, we’ll see.

And yeah, despite being overall on board with what Ayer was doing in Suicide Squad, that “damaged” tattoo was a bit silly.