Suicide Squad BTS Images Show Joker, Bat-Dancers

Screen Rant

New BTS Suicide Squad Images Feature Joker & His Bat-Dancers

By Dan Zinski

Published Jul 16, 2017

Previously unreleased behind-the-scenes images from Suicide Squad give us a new glimpse at Jared Leto's Joker and a pair of his Bat-dancers.

Suicide Squad cinematographer Roman Vasyanov has released a pair of never-before-seen behind-the-scenes images from the DCEU film, including one of Jared Leto's Joker from one of the movie's many deleted scenes. Released in 2016 as an attempt to expand the DCEU beyond the handful of familiar characters that had already been spotlighted in previous films, Suicide Squad was lambasted by critics but nevertheless went on to gross $756 million worldwide.

Though the presence of iconic Batman villain The Joker was heavily hyped before Suicide Squad's release, the character's screen time proved to be surprisingly limited, much to the dismay of many DC fans. Suicide Squad director David Ayer has since done a lot of soul-searching about the film and gone so far as to say if he had it to do over again he would have made The Joker the main villain. Accounts of deleted scenes from the movie have given fans a taste of what Suicide Squad might have been had Ayer beefed up The Joker's role and kept the tone super-dark as originally intended.

Cinematographer Roman Vasyanov has given Joker fans a tiny bit more to think about by releasing a pair of behind-the-scenes images from the film. One shot shows Jared Leto's battered-looking Joker from a much-discussed deleted scene that featured his lover Harley Quinn openly rejecting him after his attempt to rescue her via helicopter, a scene that was cut in order to play down the abusive nature of Quinn and Joker's relationship. The second shot shows a pair of Joker's dancers painted gold and mockingly wearing Batman masks.

#AlessandroBertolazzi #jaredleto #jaredletojoker A post shared by Roman Vasyanov (@romanvasyanov) on Jul 15, 2017 at 2:25pm PDT

A post shared by Roman Vasyanov (@romanvasyanov) on Jul 15, 2017 at 2:28pm PDT

Both images give a hint of the darker alternative Suicide Squad that was apparently in the works before Warner Bros. got decided to excise much of the more intense material, particularly the stuff featuring The Joker, reducing Jared Leto's character to a supporting role. Removing the scene where Quinn decisively tears herself away from the Joker also helped set up the movie's finale which showed Joker breaking into prison to get Quinn out and her willingly leaving with him.

Perhaps the darker cut of Suicide Squad would truly have been an improvement over the film as released, but it seems we'll never get a chance to see it. An extended cut of Suicide Squad was released that fleshed out certain things but much of the truly intense material remains unviewed by the public, with only the odd snippet finding its way out to give a hint of what might have been.