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Spoilers for Zack Snyder’s Justice League lie ahead, so exercise caution before proceeding.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League has finally arrived, and it offers fans a slew of new material that wasn’t seen in the 2017 theatrical cut. This includes more from the characters fans met a few years back, but Snyder also managed to bring in a few others. One of the biggest additions to the film is Jared Leto’s Joker, who returns an appearance near the end of the film. He shares a very interesting moment with Ben Affleck’s Batman, and one line, in particular, is pretty unexpected. But as it turns out, Leto actually ad-libbed that piece of dialogue.
Jared Leto’s Joker appears during the extended Knightmare sequence in the epilogue of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. In it, Batman and his team (Cyborg, Flash, Deathstroke and Mera) stumble upon the Joker in a post-apocalyptic world and form an uneasy alliance with him. Before joining forces though, the Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime exchange some sharp words with each other. During the conversation, Joker gleefully (and seriously) states that no one would be able to provide Batman with a reach-around if the villain weren’t able to join the team. And in a recent interview with Esquire, Snyder revealed that he really liked the line:
That was an ad-lib. And after he ad-libbed that he was like, 'That's never going to be in the movie.' And I go, 'You watch.'
We know the Joker doesn’t hold back when it comes to speaking his mind, and this definitely an illustration of that very fact. But on a deeper level, the line is also meant to represent the Joker’s fixation with the Dark Knight and his twisted vision of the relationship between them.
The Joker didn’t stay on screen too long, but he certainly managed to make an impression. Many fans seem to have enjoyed his role in the superhero epic, despite its brevity. Many became excited when it was revealed that Jared Leto would be reprising his role, and it only increased when the character appeared in a trailer, uttering the infamous “We live in a society” line.
One of the reasons DCEU fans are probably most satisfied with the scene is that it marks the first time audiences have seen the Batman and Joker of this universe have actually spoken to each other. And given the brutal history between the two characters, the talk was just as tense as one would imagine.
It’s currently unclear as to whether or not Jared Leto will ever get to play Joker again. But if this is indeed his last hurrah as Batman’s greatest foe, then he’ll have gone out on an appropriately odd note.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is currently streaming on HBO Max, which you can sign up for using this link.
