Say it with us now: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!
Jared Leto is unrecognizable as the Joker, as seen in a the first character photo for the new D.C. villains-themed film Suicide Squad that director and writer David Ayer tweeted on Friday night.
The longtime heartthrob and frontman of rock group Thirty Seconds to Mars, who made our hearts melt in the '90s with his knack of leaning against walls in My So Called Life and who won an Oscar last year for a different physical transformation for Dallas Buyers Club, had weeks ago shocked his fans (the Echelon) by chopping off his long, majestic, glistening golden brown locks, bleaching his hair, dyeing it green and making his eyebrows disappear (poof!) as he prepared for his new supervillain role.
The result: Pure terror.
Leto's Joker appears shirtless and sports green hair, black smudged eyeliner, dark red lipstick, a grill and an insane expression. He wears a purple glove on one hand and sports several tattoos, including the words "damaged" and "Ha ha" repeated many times, both on one side of his chest and on one of his arms. He also has tattoos of a skeletal court jester and a toothy smile.
"The Suicide Squad wishes you a Happy Anniversary Mr. J! #Joker75 #SuicideSquad @WarnerBrosEnt @DCComics," Ayer tweeted.
The Joker, Batman's arch nemesis often dubbed the Clown Prince of Crime, first appeared in the Batman #1 comic book, which was published 75 years ago, on April 25, 1940.
Leto is the third actor to play the Joker on the big screen (as a prominent role), following Jack Nicholson's mostly comedic performance in Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman and Heath Ledger's chilling portrayal in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, which earned the late actor a posthumous Oscar.
Suicide Squad also stars The Wolf of Wall Street's Margot Robbie as the Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn, plus Will Smith, Viola Davis, Cara Delevingne, Insurgent's Jai Courtney and Lost and Oz alum Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. The movie hits theaters in August 2016.