‘Justice League’ First Look: Zack Snyder Unveils Jared Leto’s Joker, Teases Batman Face Off

[Editor’s note: The following post contains spoilers for “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.”]

The first official look of Jared Leto as the Joker in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” has been revealed, courtesy of Vanity Fair. While Leto had his first go-around as Joker in David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad,” his look as the infamous Batman villain for the Snyder Cut is vastly different. Gone are the tattoos that defined Joker in “Suicide Squad.” Snyder’s Joker is seen with longer hair and wearing a hospital gown and a surgical mask. The director told Vanity Fair his Joker also sports a bulletproof vest with law enforcement badges that represent “his trophies.”

More from IndieWire

• Zack Snyder Rails Against Calling His 'Justice League' Fans 'Toxic': 'It's a Bunch of B.S.'

• Jared Leto Knows Why Hollywood Doesn't Make Them Like 'The Little Things' Anymore

As for how Leto’s Joker factors into the Snyder Cut, Vanity Fair reveals: “Joker appears in the new film during a sequence set on a ruined Earth after the alien tyrant Darkseid invades and decimates the planet. It’s a dream sequence, a psychic vision, experienced by Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne that reveals what will happen if the superheroes fail to stop the onslaught. Joker is sort of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, supplying motivation through terror.”

“The cool thing about the scene is that it’s Joker talking directly to Batman about Batman,” Snyder told the magazine. “It’s Joker analyzing Batman about who he is and what he is. That’s the thing I also felt like fans deserved from the DC Universe. That is to say, the Jared Leto Joker and the Ben Affleck Batman, they never really got together. It seemed uncool to me that we would make it all the way through this incarnation of Batman and Joker without seeing them come together.”

According to Snyder, the Joker scene in “Justice League” will also answer a question that many DCEU fans had after “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” relating to why Bruce Wayne had a Joker card taped to his gun. “Batman v Superman” hinted that Joker killed Batman’s former partner Robin, the story of which will be included in Joker’s “Justice League” dream sequence.

“I’d always wanted to explore the death of Robin,” Snyder told Vanity Fair. “And if there ever was going to be a next movie, which, of course, there probably won’t be, I wanted to do a thing where in flashbacks we learn how Robin died, how Joker killed him and burned down Wayne Manor, and that whole thing that happened between he and Bruce.”

“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” launches March 18 on HBO Max. Head over to Vanity Fair’s website for more first look photos of Jared Leto as the Joker.

Best of IndieWire

• New Movies: Release Calendar for February 5, Plus Where to Watch the Latest Films

• Sundance 2021 Deals: The Complete List of Festival Purchases So Far

• How I Shot That: The Cameras and Cinematography Behind Sundance’s Documentary Films

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.