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While the DC Extended Universe has prominently featured Batman and The Joker in the last half decade, neither characters haven’t truly shared any screen time with each other. Yes, the Caped Crusader did attempt to apprehend the Clown Prince of Crime in Suicide Squad, but the encounter didn’t involve them coming face-to-face. But this is finally changing, as Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally sees Ben Affleck’s Batman and Jared Leto’s Joker having a conversation with one another.
As shown in the Snyder Cut trailer that came out last month, we’ll see Batman and Joker talking with one another during one of the looks at the Knightmare future, where the latter boasts a significantly different look compared to how he was depicted in Suicide Squad. As it turns out through, Snyder decided to write the dialogue for this particular interaction, rather than have Chris Terrio, who wrote the original Justice League screenplay, handle it. Here’s what the filmmaker had to say while speaking with CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell and Hannah Saulic:
I wrote the dialogue for it, for that scene. But I had sent it over to Chris [Terrio], and was just getting ready to see if he had any tweaks, but he seemed… he thought it was pretty cool.
So even though the words exchanged between Batman and Joker in the Knightmare scene didn’t originate from Chris Terrio, Zack Snyder still ran them by the screenwriter for a seal of approval. While most of Zack Snyder’s Justice League is comprised of what the filmmaker shot during the original principal photography period, this scene was among several scenes shot last fall, with other actors involved with this extra round of filming including Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Joe Manganiello, Amber Heard and Harry Lennix. Snyder was given $70 million to shoot not just these scenes, but to also finalize the Snyder Cut’s visual effects, score and editing.
Jared Leto’s Joker wasn’t part of Zack Snyder’s original Justice League vision, but after HBO Max greenlit what is now the four-hour Snyder Cut, Snyder decided it would be “uncool” for Batman and his arch-nemesis to make it this far into the DCEU without actually having come together. And so, five years after Ben Affleck and Jared Leto’s respective characters debuted, this is finally being rectified, and it couldn’t have come a better time.
Although Ben Affleck’s Batman is taking part in The Flash, it’s looking like the Scarlet Speedster’s solo movie might end up being the swan song for this iteration of the Dark Knight, although that could change. As for Jared Leto, while there was once a time where his Joker was being lined up to appear in movies like Gotham City Sirens and a Suicide Squad sequel, that no longer appears to be in the cards, and he’s now contributing to the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters as Morbius. So if Zack Snyder hadn’t come along to shoot that extra Justice League material, a Batman/Joker pairing in the DCEU might never have happened. Granted, the Snyder Cut takes place in an Elseworlds-like reality rather than the main DCEU continuity, but we’re still working with familiar versions of these characters.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League will premiere on HBO Max this Thursday, March 18. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service if you’re not already subscribed. Depending how the Snyder Cut is received, perhaps it will finally allow for David Ayer’s original version of Suicide Squad to see the light of day, thus giving audiences a lot more of Jared Leto’s original Joker performance.
