Suicide Squad trailer
Click to viewSo, the new trailer is awesome, and of course, as a Joker/Harley fan, the most exciting part of the trailer is perhaps the scene of Joker diving into a vat of acid and PULLING HARLEY UP OUT OF THE ACID.
I want to point out a few neat things I found online related to this trailer.
First of all, wut421 on Imgur points out that if you flip the image of Joker pulling Harley out of the acid vertically, the dye melting off their clothes forms a heart shape around them!
This is the most comic book-y thing I've ever seen in a comic book movie. It reminds me of comic book images like this
or how the ending to "Harlequinade" fades out on a heart shape around Joker and Harley.
But the idea that Suicide Squad is perhaps the most comic book faithful movie in terms of design elements doesn't end there.
People have been pointing out some of the direct comic book inspirations for the Joker's design, from his haircut to his outfit:
(Credit)
(Credit 1, 2)
You might glance at the trailer, see Joker's black tuxedo and white boutonniere, and think it's recreating the famous Alex Ross painting. And it IS an homage to that painting, but what's even more remarkable that it is a direct recreation of a DIFFERENT comic book homage to that painting, the cover of Wonder Woman #51. The bowtie and buttons copy that cover EXACTLY.
This type of specificity shows that the creators of this film were deeply entrenched in comics when designing the look of the film.
The re-creation of the Brian Bolland cover is also remarkable to me for its eye for details; it is not just the Joker's jacket but also his GLOVES.
All of this makes me very excited for the film. This is exactly the sort of thing the 15-year-old me who threw a Harley Quinn themed birthday party would have gone crazy for. I mean, the filmmakers have gone out of their way to recreate two of the most iconic Joker covers ever drawn.
Does a film NEED to do things like this to be good--no. BUT, the fact that the filmmakers are going out of their way to homage the comics is a ton of fun and making a lot of fangirl/fanboy dreams come true.
I always thought, "No one could top Mark Hamill's Joker," and then Heath Ledger came along and did an equally amazing but different interpretation. Do I think Ledger's Joker performance bested Hamill's? No, but it is just as good in its own way. My point is, Leto doesn't have to "top" Ledger's performance. However, from everything I've seen, I think he is giving a performance that is just as good a Joker, in its own way. By which I mean, a credible, living, breathing version of the Joker. Something that FEELS like the Joker, the way that so many different interpretations/designs can feel like the Joker.
I for one am tired of waiting eight years for the Joker to appear on the silver screen again. I am so ready for a new interpretation and look. And the comic book faithfulness--as well as the bravery to try new things, like the metal teeth, which I think are a brilliant way to mimic the way Joker's teeth are a focal point of his design in the comics--make me think this will be another classic Joker for the ages, just as Hamill's and Ledger's are.
And if you had told me 15 years ago that it would take this long for Harley to appear on the big screen, I never would have believed you. But I think what they are doing with Harley is amazing and perfect. We already know that some of Harley's designs are straight out of the comics as well, such as this look which perfectly recreates Bruce Timm's Mad Love Harleen, from the bun to the coat to the glasses:
All of this is a long-winded way of saying that the Suicide Squad trailer looks like everything I ever wanted in a Joker/Harley movie!