Zack Snyder has promised that Jared Leto’s Joker will be completely different when he returns in HBO Max’s upcoming Justice League.
The internet was floored by last month’s revelation that the Suicide Squad star was making a comeback as the Clown Prince of Crime, with the reprisal promising a second chance for the actor, whose performance as the villain came under much criticism back in 2016. Well, it sounds like Snyder has taken this opportunity to totally depart from the more controversial presentation of the character in David Ayer’s movie. The filmmaker has confirmed that the Joker will have changed personality-wise in Justice League and he’ll also be sporting a new look.
He made the revelations to Beyond the Trailer‘s Grace Randolph in a lengthy interview and upon confirming the new design, Snyder explained how Leto’s Joker is much more “road weary” in JL.
“It is true,” he explained. “I wanted to, of course, honor what had been created with [Joker] because I thought it was really cool… Some water has gone under the proverbial bridge, between when last we saw Joker and this sort of appearance and so…he’s a road weary Joker.”
The director went on to praise his experience working with Leto on the reshoots which took place recently behind closed doors. He also took the time to heap compliments on the rest of the cast and crew who did their best even under adverse conditions. In the midst of this, he then let slip another big revelation – that the Joker’s inclusion is the only major new storytelling material he added during the reshoots.
“It was fun having a segment of the band together for this little vignette, and you know, working with Jared Leto was really amazing, his attention to detail and he really cares a lot about being awesome and so, you know, it was fun and everyone did an amazing level, and even trying to shoot in [the middle of a medical emergency] is you know is a bit of a deal, but everyone brought huge A-game and really wanted to be cool and I couldn’t be happier with what those guys did and it’s just really cool and good fun…it’s really the only thing that I’ve added outside of the, you know, outside of the original photography.”
Of course, this news has got folks even more excited to see the Mr. J’s comeback, as Leto’s look in Suicide Squad was massively divisive. Let’s just hope he’s much better received this time around than he was in the aforementioned film. After all, if the actor’s take on the villain in Justice League doesn’t go down well, he likely won’t get another chance for redemption.