When Zack Snyder’s Justice League is finally unleashed in less than three weeks, Jared Leto has the opportunity to completely turn the tide when it comes to his version of the Joker. The actor’s polarizing performance in Suicide Squad didn’t go down too well with either critics, general audiences or longtime fans, but based on what David Ayer and Leto have been saying, a much better take on the character was left on the cutting room floor.
Birds of Prey seemed to write him out of the franchise altogether, but the Snyder Cut is the gift that just keeps on giving. While the Academy Award winner is only set to feature in a couple of scenes at most, with the director admitting that he shot just four or five minutes of new footage, the early reactions to the much more down and dirty Clown Prince of Crime have been encouraging, although there’ve also been comparisons to The Crow and the whole ‘we live in a society’ thing has split opinion.
In any case, we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us the Joker was getting a new look in the movie long before it was confirmed – that the Warner Bros. hierarchy are said to be impressed with the returning Leto, which is potentially good news for supporters keen on having him stick around the DCEU for at least a little longer.
The 49 year-old has already been rumored for at least half a dozen projects, but the reception to his shot at redemption as Justice League‘s Joker will go a long way to determining what the studio decide to do with the Jester of Genocide from here.