Jared Leto’s Joker was never a part of Justice League when Zack Snyder or Joss Whedon were involved, so the announcement that the actor would be reprising his role as Suicide Squad‘s divisive Clown Prince of Crime for the reshoots took fans by surprise and also generated a mix of enthusiasm and confusion.
The defaced Robin costume that was glimpsed in the Batcave during Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice made it pretty clear that Mr. J was responsible for the murder of Dick Grayson, leading to speculation that Leto will be restricted to flashbacks when he returns in Justice League in order to add some more depth to the backstory of Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight.
However, the Joker has already been teased for the Snyder Cut, when the DC FanDome trailer included a subtle playing card billowing in the wind during the opening shot of the Knightmare timeline, while it was also seen in Batman V Superman that the Caped Crusader has the very same card strapped to his gun, as you can see below.
While it seems unlikely that Leto will factor into the extended Knightmare sequences, which are set to play a much bigger role in the all-new version of Justice League, we could well be getting an explanation as to why Bruce has kept his archenemy’s calling card on his person the entire time.
Either way, Leto’s Joker looks to be going from the forgotten man that the DCEU would rather not acknowledge to an integral part of the franchise’s Batman mythos, and based on the spate of recent surprises surrounding the shared universe, Snyder’s upcoming project might not be the last we see of the Academy Award winner’s controversial clown.