Do you know what a “bullshot” is? It’s a term that was coined by the video game industry to describe an early screenshot released by developers that is claimed to be an in-game image, but has actually been digitally enhanced to make it look better than the actual finished product, all just to generate hype. And we may just have been bullshotted bulledshot bulledshotted fell for one in the movie business.
When Suicide Squad director David Ayer officially unveiled Jared Leto’s Joker to the world over the weekend, it got quite the reaction. Whether people hated it or liked it, they were talking about it. And still are. Which was apparently the point of the entire exercise, if these latest reports are to be believed.
Of all the elements on Leto’s Joker, the “trying too hard to be grungy” tattoos is easily the biggest sticking point with fans, but according to JoBlo, those tattoos were added in specifically for the image (to celebrate the character’s 75th anniversary) and does not actually appear on him in the movie.
According to our source, the Joker image everybody is talking about isn’t a genuine image and doesn’t match up with how he looks on set. He’s missing scars (which we reported on a while back as mementos from his history with Batman) and the grill/teeth are a kind of WTF addition to the image. Our source elaborates that he’s scarred on his back and arms and his skin is definitely whiter than what we see. The tattoos are brand new if even real, and may have been added to cover up the areas where his scars will be.
This report is backed up by another article from MoviePilot, who posted a tweet from industry insider Gabriel Gray claiming the exact same thing.
And to vindicate that claim even further, the site posted recent on-set spy photos taken of Leto during shooting, and yep, there are no tattoos to be seen anywhere.
Leto himself posted another pic to his Instagram account last night showing off his ripped new Joker physique – yes, you just read the words “ripped new Joker physique” – and while he is sporting some impressive muscles and even a very uncharacteristic t-shirt, there is once again no tattoos (except for Leto’s personal ones).
So did we all just get suckered into the hype? Outside of the hardcore comic book/movie geek crows, Leto’s casting as the Joker wasn’t really drawing that much attention despite his serious acting credentials. But with one pic, Ayer and co has thrown him firmly into the mainstream limelight, and now just about everybody knows that a new, drastically different Joker is on the way. Whether it’s the drastically different Joker we’ve already seen though, is up for debate at this point.
Last Updated: April 29, 2015
Gavin Mannion
April 29, 2015 at 13:49
gawd I hope so, that first image really isn’t what I want Joker to look like…
Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)
April 29, 2015 at 16:34
It looks like Lil Wayne doing a Joker cosplay