Academy Award winner Jared Leto will be reprising his role as Gotham City’s notorious Clown Prince of Crime in the highly anticipated directors cut of 2017’s Justice League film.
According to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Leto will play Joker in reshoots for Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
During the films initial shooting in 2017, Warner Bros. hired Marvel Cinematic Universe alum, Joss Whedon onto the set in order to help sway it into the studio’s “ideal” creative direction. Soon after Whedon’s hiring, Snyder took a leave of absence from the film due to a family tragedy, leaving its direction in Whedon’s hands.
Whedon directed two months’ worth of reshoots for the film and creatively remade the picture according to Warner Bros. liking. The result was controversial ratings among fans. Some liked the movie, and some hated it. Some of this discourse was rooted around Henry Cavil’s mustache debacle, visual dissidence and some disappointment was also shrouded by the updated writing and storyline for the movie.
Blame for this critical flop was placed on Warner Bros. request for a shorter film and demand for comedic tone.
Snyder’s cut of the film, which is set to be released in a mini series styled format on HBO Max next year, has called Letto, Amber Heard (Mera), Ben Affleck (Batman), and Ray Fisher (Cyborg) back to shoot additional scenes. Other actors from the film have also been called to participate in reshoots in order to fully realize Snyder’s vision.
Leto famously played Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad but was presumably “replaced” with Joaquin Pheonix’s version of the character in 2019’s “Joker film.
Leto’s more crazy crime boss centric version of the character received controversially mixed reviews after “Suicide Squad.” His interpretation appears in that single film but is referenced in 2016’s “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and 2020’s “Birds of Prey.”
Original producers Jon Berg and Geoff Johns are in the midst of removing their names from the Snyder Cut. Both were Warner Bros. executives at the time of the theatrical release but have since left the studio and are not involved in the Director’s Cut. Berg and Johns have also been accused of condoning Whedon’s abusive behavior on set by Cyborg star Ray Fisher
