The Joker is almost inarguably the most popular Batman villain of all time, and there have been many incarnations, most of which have been excellent. Jared Leto’s take on the Joker, however, is by far one of the most controversial and certainly among the least popular. I will give some credit for at least trying to do something different, but it ultimately went wrong for several major reasons.

One of the biggest mistakes of the DC Extended Universe was hitting the fast forward button on both Batman and the Joker. Yes, we know their origins in general, but we do not know the specific paths these particular incarnations took. It ends up feeling like watching a sequel without ever seeing the original movie. They also severely mishandled the Joker in Suicide Squad. He mostly appears in flashbacks, and to really rub salt in the wound, many of his scenes were cut from the final version of the film.

As a result, he comes across more like a gang leader who happens to be a killer clown, rather than the psychotic jester who is the Clown Prince of Crime. To be fair, they did a decent job establishing the romantic bond between him and Harley Quinn.

It also makes sense that he goes out of his way to prevent Amanda Waller from killing Harley, and that he puts so much effort into breaking her out of prison. But then the DCEU throws in another curveball and has the two of them break up. Ironically, this ends up being a very unique and positive twist for Harley’s character.

In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the Joker appears in a Knightmare vision. His hair and clothing are far more traditional, looking much closer to the classic Joker than the version we saw in Suicide Squad. The scene suggests that he would be working alongside Batman to take down a rogue Superman who has gone evil. It is an interesting idea for a potential movie, but with the DC Extended Universe now officially dead, we will never know where that storyline was supposed to lead.