Now let's be real...can we all stop comparing Health Ledger's Joker to Jared Leto's Joker? Yes, they both portrayed the role of one of the most notorious villains in all of the comic universe, but each role was a different time in the Joker's life, with a completely different storyline. Let's not forget that each one had a different director too. So can we really compare them?

In The Dark Knight, The Joker was the main part of the plot. The movie centered around him, his crimes, and destruction in Gotham. While Batman tried to stop him and his damage and once again make Gotham a better place. It was Batman versus the Joker. While on the other hand, in Suicide Squad The Joker was not a main part of the plot nor was the movie centered around him versus Batman. The movie was centered around a task force of villainous meta-humans and "the worst of the worst" criminals, who were assembled to carry out a dangerous mission. The Joker was not actually a member of the "Suicide Squad" nor did he contribute to the actual "Suicide Squad" in any way. He interacted with one member in particular. That member would be Harley Quinn, the love of his life. Which would be the biggest and main difference of the two Jokers? Harley Quinn would not exist if it weren't for The Joker which is why his role in the movie was crucial. The focus of his character involved his relationship with Harley. In The Dark Knight Harley Quinn was not mentioned because she did not exist. The Joker was just being introduced in The Dark Knight and had not been to institutionalized in Arkham Asylum, where he met Harley Quinn who was known then as psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel. The Joker's character was in two completely different parts of his life during the movies, making him two very different people in each movie. The Dark Knight was before Harley and Arkham and Suicide Squad was post Harley and Arkham. The movies are not connected but if you were to draw that connection you'd see that the Joker is indeed in two very different parts of his life.

So let's say Heath Ledger was still alive (God rest his beautiful soul) and he played The Joker in Suicide Squad. Not only would his wardrobe and makeup be different but so would his performance. He would be a different Joker due to the new aspects of life the Joker was undergoing. I think the reason there is such a big comparison is due to the fact Heath Ledger passed away shortly after The Dark Knight came out, making The Joker his last role in any movie, and it just happened to be his most iconic performance which won him an Oscar. Jared Leto, who has also won an Oscar and has transformed himself for a role more than once, was asked in a interview with Rolling Stone about Heath's performance as the Joker and his response prompted me to write this article. "It's one of the best performances ever in cinema, I had met Heath before. I didn't know him well, but he was a beautiful person." He continued with, "I think had it only been portrayed by Heath and it was never a comic book, maybe I would have felt that would be inappropriate, but I thought that given the history, it was okay. The good thing about other people having done this is that you know what direction not to head in."

So my point is that all this comparison between the two actors and their roles as The Joker isn't all that fair. I would understand if there was a remake of The Dark Knight (which would never happen) and Jared Leto played The Joker, but here in Suicide Squad, there's not much to compare in my opinion. Personally, I think Ledger and Leto were the only two men for each role. The two different roles of Joker could not have been performed better by any other actor.