"Why so serious?"

Ever since "The Dark Knight," the second installment in Christopher Nolan's celebrated "Dark Knight" trilogy, opened in theaters, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone unfamiliar with that chilling inquiry. It was the late Heath Ledger who uttered those famous words in his final and finest role as notorious villain, The Joker. Ledger's performance was so darkly captivating that it earned him a posthumous Oscar Award for Best Supporting Actor, an achievement not typically garnered for roles in superhero movies. Nevertheless, Heath Ledger embodied an iconically evil character so well that fans were sure no one could ever do the character justice.

That is, until the cast was announced for next year's villain team-up film: "Suicide Squad."

Directed by dark-and-gritty action extraordinaire David Ayer ("Training Day," "End of Watch"), "Suicide Squad" will feature a team of Batman's most powerful enemies put together to do the government's dirty work. While the castings of Margot Robbie as the tantalizing Harley Quinn and superstar Will Smith as the assassin Deadshot are exciting, the one bit of news with the most buzz around it is that of Jared Leto being cast as the Joker.

Known primarily for his most recent award-winning role as an AIDS-afflicted cross-dresser in "Dallas Buyers Club" and for helming the globally successful rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, there is no question that Jared Leto has talent to spare. However, his reputation as a pretty boy has made many fans skeptical as to whether or not he can pull off playing perhaps one of the most sadistic and frightening comic book characters of all time. I am here to refute any and all doubts surrounding the new Clown Prince of Crime.

First of all, just look at him.

via Screen Rant

This was a promotional image released earlier this year giving fans their first official look at Leto in full costume and character. While the self-aware "HA-HA" and smile tattoos are an unorthodox approach to the character, the look in his eyes in this picture can really only be described as pure psychosis. Further, the filmmakers have chosen to forego the comics' traditionally pearly white smile and Ledger's yellow and rotten teeth for metal caps. What many outraged fans mistook for blinged-out grills, reminiscent of rappers Paul Wall and Chamillionaire, are actually most likely the consequences of countless previous encounters with the hard-hitting Batman. If this implication turns out to be true, it is a shining testament to this Joker's alarming ability to take numerous punches from none other than the Batman and keep a smile on his face.

Additional evidence that Leto's Joker will be on par with Ledger's comes straight from the mouth of one of the co-stars he worked the closest with. Margot Robbie, who will be playing the Joker's love interest Harley Quinn, recently said in an interview she did with the New York Daily News that even when she saw Leto out of make-up that she was "petrified of him." One can only hope this is an indicator to how dedicated he was to the character and how he mastered the cultivation of a horrific and upsetting presence, typical of the Joker. Towards the beginning of shooting, Leto also struck fear into co-stars by filming a publicly unseen video for the cast featuring a dead pig, no doubt giving a good sense of what terror they were about to start working with.

So with his metallic grin, that nightmare-inducing gleam in his eyes and way of taking method acting to an alarmingly new level, Leto will surely prove to be a formidable new Joker for comic and horror movie fans alike. Heath Ledger's turn as Batman's arch-nemesis was indeed a shooting star; a fleeting glimpse of pure brilliance that ended way too soon. Here's hoping this new interpretation of the villain will be equally menacing and much longer-lasting.

Catch Leto's Joker as well as many other evildoers in "Suicide Squad" on Aug. 5, 2016.