Suicide Squad Concept Art Shows What Joker Could’ve Looked Like

In life, it goes without saying that there are just certain characters you’ll become attached to more than others. Thus, you may feel overly protective of them, as is the case with me and the Joker. Having witnessed such iconic portrayals offered up by the likes of Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger within my lifetime, it was only natural that I favored the Clown Prince of Crime over all other villains – and even went on to cosplay as him on several occasions.

Having said that, I’m not ashamed to admit that what Suicide Squad had to contribute to the Ace of Knaves’ legacy horrified me on so many levels, with appearance and portrayal being chief among them. Really, I never once thought Batman’s greatest foe should be comparable to a pimp in terms of aesthetics, but I guess somebody in Hollywood disagrees with me.

So, if you’re of the same opinion as I, then it’s time to let you know that it could’ve been worse. Thanks to a post over on Reddit, we’ve been given an idea of how Mistah J may have looked had the tattoos been taken to a greater extreme.

Now, before I proceed, it’s probably important that I say my gripe isn’t with artist Rob Coutts, because he was merely given a job to do. Rather, said beef is with those above him because, as I recall, the folks behind the camera looked to Instagram accounts belonging to Mexican drug cartels for inspiration. Call me crazy, but I would’ve been examining some comic books had I been in their position. After all, there’s more than three quarters of a century worth of Joker stories to cull from.

As for noticeable differences from what made the screen, we can see that the classic green hair was foregone here in favor of a red and black color scheme, likely in keeping with Harley Quinn, whom he also had a neck tattoo in honor of. Furthermore, the sharp teeth on his hand are enough to make Killer Croc envious.

Tell us, do you prefer this look more, or the one Jared Leto actually adopted in Suicide Squad? Or, perhaps you favor something more on point like, say, Gotham‘s Jeremiah Valeska? Sound off in the usual place below and let us know.