1 of 3 | Jared Leto arrives for the Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation at CinemaCon 2016 on April 12, 2016. Leto will portray The Joker in the upcoming film "Suicide Squad." The character, according to director David Ayer, has a set of tattoos that "tell a very specific story." File Photo by James Atoa/UPI |
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LOS ANGELES, June 17 (UPI) -- Jared Leto's tattooed Joker from Warner Bros. upcoming villain focused film Suicide Squad has a collection of body art that "tell a very specific story," according to director David Ayer.
"Eventually people will decipher them and understand what's going on, but obviously they're contentious, any time you do something new it's contentious," Ayer explained to Yahoo! Movies UK during an on-set visit about some of the negative fan reaction the tattoos have received.
"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," he continued about the hidden secrets on display on the character.
Ever since Leto was first revealed shirtless as The Clown Prince of Crime back in April of 2015, fans have been pouring over the various tattoos that appear across his body that include the word "Damaged" on his forehead, a smiling mouth on his right arm, and a robin on his right bicep that many have theorized could be related to Batman's sidekick Robin.
When Suicide Squad arrives in theaters Aug. 5, The Joker's right hand lady Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie, will also be seen sporting her own colorful tattoos.
"She did these herself in prison," Ayer explained about her body ink which features tributes to The Joker. "They're stick and poke tattoos, prison-style tattoos, that you do when you don't have a tattoo gun. She did them herself out of boredom and desperation... There's I Heart Puddin', a Joker face, a love heart... that's obviously reflective of her time in prison."
Suicide Squad's use of tattoos have even spilled over into the marketing, when in March, Warner Bros. released a series of tattoo-themed character posters as part of a promotional tie-in with the South by Southwest film festival. The festival had hosted an area labeled Harley's Tattoo Parlor daring fans to visit in order to receive their own tattoos.
Similarly, Robbie had opened up her own little parlor on-set during filming of the actioner where she reportedly gave Ayer and other members of the cast including Will Smith (Deadshot), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang) and Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flagg) matching "SKWAD" tattoos.
The cast of Suicide Squad will next invade San Diego Comic-Con to take part in panel discussions and autograph signings.
