Jared Leto has been revealed as The Joker in the Suicide Squad movie.
Here’s why Batman’s biggest villain will never diminish…
The Joker may well be the greatest villain ever created.
His fate is inescapably tied to Batmans.
Frank Miller has spoken of the importance of stripping a character down to its core.
Whats more, the Jokers history has historically been shrouded in mystery.
With no solid origin, a human motivation is difficult to establish.
In fact, when you strip the pieces away from him, Joker is revealed as something more elemental.
As he mentioned in a 2009 interview, the young Robinson had a very different idea.
First, he wanted Batman to have a true antagonist; a real threat to the seemingly unbeatable hero.
A villain who could be as entertaining as his nemesis.
After some thought, he settled on the familiar visage of the playing card Joker.
A powerful image for a powerful character.
The Joker debuted in the lead story inBatman#1 (1940).
While its not thefirstBatman story, hes still the lead story in the first issue of Batmans own title.
Thats quite an honor.
Hes all but fully formed in his first appearance.
In comic books, thats nearly as important as the story.
The Joker arguably lost a step over the years, though.
He changed from a brutal and disturbing murderer into an elaborate thief.
The Joker developed a taste for the theatrical, and his visage and outfit became more explicitly clown-like.
As the 1970s arrived, the Joker was briefly cast aside.
After a four-year absence, Denny O Neil and Neal Adams relaunched the character in 1973sBatman#251.
Well…if he wanted to.
These are all essential components of any super villain, but nothing too uncommon.
So, why has the Joker become so prominent?
Part of this is Batman, himself.
He is chaos while Batman is order.
Now, most of Batmans villains are psychotic, driven by some damage that turned them against the world.
InArkham Asylum, Morrison writes that the Joker creates himself every day.
Morrison would revisit this concept over a decade later inBatman#663 entitled The Clown At Midnight.
This makes him not only more dangerous out of sheer volatility, but it makes himpure evil.
This is what I believe to be the core of his functionality and resultant popularity.
In any situation, and against any foe, the Joker is a threat.
He lives to torment sentient life.
Dont confuse this withParadise Lost, I dont mean Lucifer cast down into Hell.
Im speaking about an older idea, a figure that one could never truly sympathize with.
His power may be attractive, but when confronted with his presence, its luster fades.
No Batman project feels complete until he meets and defeats the true embodiment of evil.
The Joker doesnt need an origin, we know what he really is.
Hes the reason you lock your doors at night.
Hes the crook in the alley.
Hes the nightmare you awoke screaming from.
A version of this article originally appeared on December 13th, 2013.
