Unfortunately when we got our first official look at the cast of Suicide Squad all together at a recent script read, Jared Leto wasn’t apart of it as he’s been around the world touring with his band, 30 Seconds to Mars. And although the image was very cool to see with all those actors, it was just a bit different without the most important one of them all there.

Since Leto has been teasing fans on his social media accounts for a while now that he’s been going through ‘transformations’ to become The Joker, is made sense to save Leto and his Joker look for a much bigger reveal, just as they have for their Justice League members.

And although it isn’t a serious reveal yet and the image is a bit blurry, director David Ayer has tweeted out an image of Leto as he makes his steps into becoming The Joker:

#WhereIsJared #SuicideSquad http://t.co/D5tMnMGBop

—
David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) April 10, 2015

Now for you comic book fans, the image may look very familiar. The image pays great homage to the classic graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland. The Killing Joke story is very well known for possibly being the darkest and most twisted version of The Joker ever, a story which Christopher Nolan took bits and pieces for Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight, but that Joker still didn’t come close to the type of Joker in The Killing Joke.

Now if David Ayer, Zack Snyder and Warner Bros./DC are using this story as a blueprint for Jared Leto’s Joker, fans and audiences across the world are in for a huge surprise. It means the DC Universe is going much darker and serious than we first though, meaning we could see some incredibly brutal, gritty, violent things take place, especially when The Joker is involved.

Here’s a look at the above image and The Killing Joke cover side by side:

From the image we can see that Leto still has a ways to go to become that frightening character on the right, but he’s pretty damn close. Throw on a purple suit, some make-up and red lip-stick and we’ve got ourselves a Joker! It’s way to freaking early to tell whether or not Leto will be good or great in the role, or to even compare him to Heath Ledger’s Joker. But this early on I can personally say on thing, I personally think he can pull off the look in a way that Ledger couldn’t. The long and thin look, with that insane look in his eyes, that’s the Joker I’m expecting to see, and I can’t freaking wait.

Suicide Squad just started filming and with the latest Batman V Superman news and with San Diego Comic Con 2015 just five months away, expect to see more on the super villain team-up pretty soon. That’s where we could end up getting the big reveal and look at Leto as The Joker, along with the first teaser or full trailer for Suicide Squad.

Suicide Squad has a August 5th, 2016 release date. Directed by David Ayer starring Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Viola Davis.