In just eight days, Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League officially premieres on HBO Max. Although Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn doesn’t make an appearance in the four-hour film, Jared Leto is reprising his role as Joker.
Now, one DC fan has noticed that Joker’s new look in Justice League includes a subtle Harley Quinn and Suicide Squad Easter egg some may not notice.
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The anticipation surrounding The Snyder Cut is continuing the build as the one-week mark until its premiere approaches. Collectively, a lot of the buzz surrounding Justice League revolves around Jared Leto’s controversial return as Joker.
It’s been almost five years since he starred as the Gotham City villain in 2016’s Suicide Squad. However, Snyder decided to incorporate Suicide Squad director David Ayer’s world in the new Justice League. This time around, Joker is rocking a sinister new look. For the upcoming film, Joker has ditched his Suicide Squad-era tattoos and short hair. Snyder even teased Joker’s style change in a photo that depicts the villain in a biblical light.
Now, one DC fan has noticed a subtle detail in Joker’s new look. Ahead of the film’s premiere, AT&T launched a Justice League exhibit in Dallas. The exhibit includes various props from the HBO Max film including some of the characters’ iconic costumes. In particular, an eagle-eyed fan noticed a Harley Quinn Easter egg hidden in Joker’s new outfit.
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Twitter user @alistlk posted a photo of Joker’s gun which is the exact one Harley Quinn used in Suicide Squad. The subtle inclusion of the item further ties Ayer’s and Snyder’s worlds together while incorporating Joker’s tumultuous past with Harley Quinn.
— AList (@alistlk) March 8, 2021
The #SnyderCut Exhibit is happening at the AT&T Discovery District in Dallas. With Zack Snyder’s Justice League premiering March 18 on HBO Max, according to Johanna Fuentes, the company’s head of communications, the exhibit will be going on for the next few months.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the Prince Of Crime and Harley Quinn’s past has been mentioned in recent DC films. Last year, Robbie’s Harley Quinn gave Leto’s Joker a subtle nod in Birds Of Prey after the villain didn’t appear in the film.
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Although Robbie’s Harley Quinn does not appear in the new Justice League, her time as the character is far from over. She is starring in The Suicide Squad which arrives on HBO Max on Aug. 6. Back in 2020, leaked photos from the film’s set confirmed Harley Quinn’s new look in The Suicide Squad. Last month, Leto even addressed those nearly five-year-old rumors he gave Robbie a dead rat on the set of Suicide Squad.
As for Leto, on Wednesday, fans were given another look at Joker ahead of the Justice League premiere. The exclusive photo from the set of the film shows the heavily armed villain with numerous police badges clipped to his bulletproof vest. This minor detail seemingly confirms the killing spree the villain may be on in The Snyder Cut.
Last week, Snyder explained why Joker changed his look for the new Justice League. As it turns out, the director drew inspiration for a specific source for the character. During the IGN interview, he also seemingly confirmed more Justice League films probably won’t happen.
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“What inspired [Joker’s] look was the sort of post-apocalyptic world that I’m a huge fan of,” Snyder told IGN. “And, really, the idea was that as the movies progressed, the next movie—if there ever was one, and it doesn’t seem like there ever will be—but if there was, it would exist primarily in that world with them trying to set it right.”
Back in February, fans got their first glimpse of Leto’s Joker in the thrilling new Snyder Cut trailer. In the visual, viewers see Ben Affleck’s Batman and Leto’s Joker come face to face in an eerie new clip. Soon after its release, Snyder revealed the real reason why that scene between Batman and Joker needed to happen.
Joker appears in the new Justice League during a sequence set on a ruined Earth after the alien tyrant Darkseid invades the planet.
“It’s a dream sequence, a psychic vision, experienced by Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne that reveals what will happen if the superheroes fail to stop the onslaught,” Snyder told Vanity Fair. “Joker is sort of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, supplying motivation through terror.”
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For Snyder, this scene is particularly intriguing because it’s the first time Leto’s Joker and Affleck’s Batman truly come together.
“The cool thing about the scene is that it’s Joker talking directly to Batman about Batman,” Snyder said. “It’s Joker analyzing Batman about who he is and what he is. That’s the thing I also felt like fans deserved from the DC Universe. That is to say, the Jared Leto Joker and the Ben Affleck Batman, they never really got together. It seemed uncool to me that we would make it all the way through this incarnation of Batman and Joker without seeing them come together.”
According to Snyder, the Joker scene will also answer a major Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice question, which is why was Joker’s card taped to Wayne’s gun? The new scene will also touch on the theory that Joker actually killed Batman’s partner Robin.
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“I’d always wanted to explore the death of Robin,” Snyder continues. “And if there ever was going to be a next movie, which, of course, there probably won’t be, I wanted to do a thing where in flashbacks we learn how Robin died. [Also] how Joker killed him and burned down Wayne Manor, and that whole thing that happened between he and Bruce.”
The Snyder Cut may not be the only time we see Leto play Joker in the future. Currently, rumors are swirling that David Ayer could release an Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad. As we all remember, Suicide Squad was recut post-filming which led to the elimination of a lot of Leto’s screen time.
Over the years, reports emerged that Leto’s scenes were cut because Warner Bros. officials didn’t care for his portrayal of Joker. However, Ayer has largely disputed this. In fact, Ayer has shared various glimpses into Leto’s cut scenes, leading to many requests for a recut of the film.
What are your reactions to Joker using Harley Quinn’s gun in Zack Snyder’s Justice League? Let us know in the comments below.