Jared Leto’s Joker is back in a new sneak peek at the character’s return in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Set to release on HBO Max next month, the highly-anticipated “Snyder Cut” of the controversial 2017 movie will bring back Leto to reprise his role as the Joker for the first time since making his debut in 2016’s Suicide Squad. An alternate look has also been teased for the supervillain, and Snyder teased Joker’s new appearance in a photo posted to Vero. The image is now quickly spreading throughout social media.
Zack Snyder shares a photo of the Joker (via Vero) 🃏 pic.twitter.com/MhEbjm8r2f
— DC Extended Universe (@TheDCEU) February 2, 2021
In the foreground of the photo, we can see the Clown Prince of Crime’s gloved hand holding his trademark Joker’s card. The madman of the hour himself is in the background, but his face is heavily blurred, making it very difficult to tell how he’ll actually look in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. However, we can certainly see just enough to tell that he won’t be looking quite the same as he had in Suicide Squad, an interpretation that has been heavily criticized by many DC fans. Could a different take on the character give Leto a chance to redeem his polarizing Joker performance with these critics?
During the production of Justice League, Zack Snyder abruptly left the project after suffering a family tragedy. Joss Whedon was then infamously brought in to complete the movie, and with a totally different vision, he ordered reshoots and changed several story elements. The final result is not quite what Snyder had imagined when he was developing the movie before leaving. To complete his original version of the movie, Snyder has been working on heavy edits, restoring long-lost deleted scenes, and shooting new footage which includes Leto’s return as the Joker.
Whether Jared Leto ever reprises the role of the Joker again remains to be seen after Zack Snyder’s Justice League. With the DCEU set to continue with upcoming sequels like Aquaman 2 and Wonder Woman 3, the possibility is always there for Leto’s Joker to show up at any time. Of course, we’re just as likely to see other actors soon taking on the character as well. Following Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning portrayal in the standalone movie Joker, we could see yet another actor one day get the role in the new canon introduced in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
Meanwhile, Leto will be keeping pretty busy even without the Joker on his slate. He can be seen as vampire vigilante Michael Morbius in Sony and Marvel’s upcoming movie Morbius, set to be released next year. Leto is also set to play Paolo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s Gucci, co-starring with Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Jack Huston. Recently, Leto has already started pre-production on Adrift, a new psychological thriller that will team the actor back up with Requiem for a Dream helmer Darren Aronofsky.
Leto can currently be seen alongside Denzel Washington and Rami Malek in the new thriller The Little Things, now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Also on the streamer, his return as the Joker can be seen when Zack Snyder’s Justice League debuts on March 18. This news comes to us from Zack Snyder on Vero.