First Image Of Jared Leto As The Joker Released

So this year we’ll be seeing the hotly anticipated second installment of Avengers; Age of Ultron as our headline comic book movie. But 2016 is the year where cinema is going to be dominated by comic book properties like never before. Next year we’ll be getting Batman V Superman, Suicide Squad and Captain America: Civil War. One of those movies, Suicide Squad, is gearing up to start filming in the next few days.

In the Nolan-era almost no information about the film, cast or characters was released to the public. But, in the social media age where everyone’s mom’s chihuahua has Twitter followers, you’ve got to have a social media presence, especially if you’re a movie looking to go north of the $1 billion mark at the box office. David Ayer, director of Suicide Squad seems to be quite savvy about this kind of thing, so he acknowledged it and responded accordingly with this picture of Jared Leto, who will be playing the Joker in Suicide Squad:

#WhereIsJared #SuicideSquad pic.twitter.com/D5tMnMGBop

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 10, 2015

To some it might just be a picture, but rest assured there are fanboys out there right now that are running around in their pajamas flinging food condiments at the wall over this photo. OK, not really – but folks are pretty excited. With shooting imminent it would seem all his Twitter followers are going to get a front row seat to what’s going on behind the scenes. For keen fans of the Batman graphic novels this image might look familiar, as its inspiration is indeed from a panel in The Killing Joke. It’s fairly iconic outing for the clown prince of crime, fans of the character should check it out. 

The Killing Joke

One of the many, many things comic book fans have to look forward to is that we’re not going to be starved of information when it comes to Suicide Squad, Ayer seems to be fine with turning his Twitter feed into a behind the scenes DVD special feature. Some of us might not want to be spoiled, so that we see the characters realised on screen and in the theater for the first time. But, I suspect some fans wouldn’t want it any other way. Stay tuned, the hype train has left the station.

Check out a full cast picture Ayer also tweeted this week, including Margot Robbie (who plays Harley Quinn), Will Smith (Deadshot), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), Jai Courtney (Boomerang) Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flagg), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc) and Karen Fukuhara (unannounced, but possibly Plastique).

Cast read through today! #SuicideSquad pic.twitter.com/yajjcB5aEb

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 9, 2015