We’re now a little over one month away from the release ofZack Snyder’s Justice Leagueon HBO Max – formerly known asThe Snyder Cut– and filmmakerZack Snyderhas opted to share a first look at what fans can expect fromJared Leto’s Joker in the movie. You may recall that The Joker did not appear in the theatrical cut ofJustice League, but Snyder pulled Leto back in to reprise hisSuicide Squadrolefor his director’s cutof the superhero team-up movie.
For the uninitiated, Snyder completed principal photography onJustice Leaguebut left early in post-production to attend to a personal tragedy. At that point, Warner Bros. brought inJoss Whedonto write and direct a bevy of news scenes meant to lighten to the tone of the film and differentiate it from Snyder’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which received a largely negative reaction from critics and some commercial audiences. The result was a mishmash trash fire, anonymously authored, and now HBO Max has invested tens of millions of dollars into letting Snyder finish his director’s cut of the movie, offering up something more in line with his original vision to fans.
Leto’s Joker is obscured in this new image, but clearly looks different than the gangster vibe we got inSuicide Squad. It’s a look more in line with the comics, and as a result it more closely resemblesHeath LedgerandJoaquin Phoenix’s takes on the character.
It’s been revealed that Leto only appears very briefly inZack Snyder’s Justice Leagueso we shouldn’t expect a major presence in the film, but it will certainly be interesting to see how Snyder approaches the character. Indeed, when Leto signed ontoSuicide Squadthe expectation was that he’d be in future DC films — at one point WB was even developinga Joker/Harley Quinn moviefor Leto andMargot Robbie. But after theJustice Leaguedebacle, Warner Bros. largely abandoned the intense interconnectivity of its films, and is planning on usingThe Flashmovieto introduce the multiverse idea and essentially start fresh.
Take a look at Jared Leto’s Joker inThe Snyder Cutbelow.Zack Snyder’s Justice Leaguewill be released exclusively on HBO Max on March 18th.
