Jared Leto made his first appearance as the Joker in director David Ayer's Suicide Squad film for Warner Bros. and DC. Now, Leto will reprise his role as the classic Batman villain in the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League for HBO Max.
After roughly two years of petitioning Warner Bros. to release Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League, participants in the fan campaign received their wish when the filmmaker announced his edition of the DC film will be released on HBO Max in 2021. In order to restore Snyder's vision of Justice League, HBO Max is investing in reshoots on the DC film that are designed to finish incomplete sequences and add new material.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned Leto will participate in the shooting of additional scenes for Zack Snyder's Justice League. He will be joined by fellow DC Extended Universe stars Ben Affleck, Ray Fisher, and Amber Heard. The outlet has also learned that Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, who served as producers on the lambasted theatrical cut of Justice League, plan to have their names removed from the Snyder Cut as they were not involved in this new edition and are no longer executives at the studio. According to THR sources, Johns and Berg's made the decision partly out of respect to the reshoots and Snyder's original vision.
Leto's inclusion in the reshoots indicates new characters are being added to Snyder's cut of Justice League, as the clown prince of crime was not featured in the theatrical release helmed by Joss Whedon. Before a personal family tragedy prompted Snyder to exit the project, the filmmaker intended for Justice League to be a part of a multi-film arc that featured Darkseid as the primary antagonist. While the Snyder Cut will restore certain story elements and characters that were cut when Whedon was tasked with overseeing the project, Warner Bros. is not expected to resume the filmmaker's plans for the franchise as this new edition will exist within a universe that is separate from the rest of the DCEU.
News of Leto returning to the role of the Joker will likely be met with surprise considering his performance wasn't universally admired. While Leto had once been attached to projects such as Gotham City Sirens and a standalone film focused on his incarnation of the Joker, there has been little word on the status of those projects since they were first announced.
Still, the fact that the Snyder cut is moving forward can be viewed as a win by those who prefer to see filmmakers receive a second chance at seeing their visions fulfilled, especially after studio interference.
Zack Snyder's Justice League will be released on HBO Max in 2021.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter