It’s fair to say Jared Leto’s Joker didn’t win him too many fans when he made his debut in The Suicide Squad. However, one man seems bent upon changing that when he brings the Jared Leto Joker back for Zack Snyder’s Justice League on March 18.

Snyder himself has spent months teasing his revamped Justice League which features material that completely cut out from the film’s 2017 release and also some newly shot scenes including not only some of DC’s most recognizable heroes, but its poster boy villain, the Joker. Indeed, Snyder himself has openly discussed the changes that he envisioned for Leto’s Joker this time around, both in character and looks.

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Now, a Vanity Fair exclusive has published the first official full photos -shared by Snyder himself- revealing the extreme makeover undergone by Leto in order to reprise his role in Snyder’s Justice League. Though shot in black and white, there is no sign of Leto’s Suicide Squad bright green slicked back hair nor any face tattoos, instead this grittier Joker adopts the director’s more “realistic” look for his DC characters ans should go well with the rest of the Justice League's R-rated art direction.

As Snyder himself says, after leaving Justice League due to a mixture of family matters and his complicated relationship with the studio, “The Joker is really the only thing that I thought of in retrospect”, claiming it was always a goal for him to be able to fit the character into some form of conflict with Batman and finally he gets to fulfill that. This downtrodden Joker whose long hair makes him look like he just escaped from Arkham Asylum is precisely that for the director, after all, Joker’s also had a hard time due to the film’s events.

The director also explained how the Joker’s inclusion will help solve the questions derived from those Batman v Superman easter eggs that teased his potential inclusion in the DC extended universe down the line. However, he declined to comment much on any issues regarding the DCEU’s continuity when comparing this Joker to the one seen in Suicide Squad.

Could these Joker photos be the last preview Snyder throws in fans’ way before his Justice League cut releases? Definitely not, there's the new footage of Superman dressed in black dropped practically on the same day, so keep an eye out for more teasers from Snyder involving Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman or just about everyone else in the Justice League before or after the final trailer comes out.

Zack Snyder's Justice League will be available on HBO  Max starting March 18.

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Source: Vanity Fair