Jared Leto Is Officially Back As The Joker
Jared Leto is confirmed to return to the DC universe as the Joker.
This article is more than 2 years old
Jared Leto left a lasting impression with his take on the Clown Prince of Crime in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. Many found the interpretation to be too repugnant to ever revisit, but some folks are willing to give him a smidgen of praise. And it looks like someone with some authority feels the same way as we have just learned that this iteration of the Joker is going to be back in the DC universe.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Jared Leto is being brought in for the reshoots that are being done on Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the new version of the 2017 film that will be premiering on HBO Max next year. Learning this has put a lot of other rumors into focus. We have heard that Ben Affleck would be back as Batman for a new HBO Max series and that it would focus on the battle between the Dark Knight and the Joker. It sounds like these talks have likely come to be due to Leto’s inclusion in these reshoots for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
This is pretty monumental news and adds a lot more credence to all these rumors we have been hearing about Jared Leto and Ben Affleck returning to the DC universe in a substantial way. It also might be a way for Warner Bros. to salvage some relationship with Leto as he was vocally unhappy when his Joker got pushed out for the Oscar-winning Joaquin Phoenix movie. It’s almost certain Leto was contracted for multiple movies and nothing coming from that might have ticked him off. This could be a way to appease him and bring him back into the fold.
And does this mean that those other rumors about a Ben Affleck/Jared Leto HBO Max series are true? It is likely that this is being discussed while the actors are currently working on Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Whether it will manifest or not will likely depend on the response to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, so a lot will be riding on the overall reaction to that project.
It is going to be very interesting to see the reaction to Jared Leto’s return as the Joker. Many audiences and critics have ranked him as the worst version of the character. It doesn’t seem like a whole lot of reappraisal for his riff on the character has occurred since Suicide Squad released back in 2016. However, there is supposedly a lot of his character left on the cutting room floor. If we ever get to see director David Ayer’s alternate cut of Suicide Squad, perhaps that will be a catalyst for people to re-evaluate this take on the most prominent supervillain in comic book history.
Regardless, Jared Leto will be back as the Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Was he always supposed to be in the movie or is this a brand new addition from the director? This revelation has opened up a whole new batch of questions that will only be answered once Zack Snyder’s Justice League begins premiering on HBO Max next year. In the meantime, here’s a little cartoon to scratch your Jared Leto Joker itch…
