Jared Leto will return as The Joker in the Justice League Snyder Cut, but what will his appearance entail? The announcement of the Snyder Cut's debut on HBO Max next year was just the beginning of what has been possibly the wildest couple of months the DCEU has ever seen. Even the Snyder Cut itself will now be released in a more augmented form than what it originally was, re-integrating the original design of Steppenwolf along with new scenes being shot and added to the finished product.
The filming of said scenes is currently underway, with Jared Leto reprising his role as The Joker from Suicide Squad alongside numerous other DCEU actors. With Leto not having been in the Snyder Cut as it existed up until now, this begs the question of what role The Clown Prince of Crime has to play in it. However, there are some breadcrumbs that could offer context as to what his role could look like.
One possibility is that The Joker will be a part of the Knightmare future first seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The trailer for the Snyder Cut, released during August's DC FanDome, shows a glimpse at the Knightmare, with a Joker card briefly seen drifting through the air. This offered an indication of The Joker being involved in the Knightmare well before news of Leto's return arrived. Now that he is confirmed to be part of the Snyder Cut's additional filming, Zack Snyder could be intending for The Joker to appear in the Knightmare in some capacity.
Of course, with Ben Affleck also returning, it also seems very likely that Batman and The Joker will come face-to-face in the Snyder Cut. Though Batman appeared in Suicide Squad, he and The Joker didn't have any direct interaction, only coming close when The Dark Knight pursued The Joker and Harley Quinn through Gotham and riding on the roof of their car. This could mean that Snyder intends to work in a direct confrontation between Batman and The Joker.
Taking it a step further, it could even be a situation where both scenarios come to pass, given Batman's major presence in the Knightmare previously. With the Joker card seen in the Snyder Cut trailer, it could be the case that The Joker survived the initial invasion by Darkseid's forces, perhaps falling under the influence of the Anti-Life Equation and aligning himself with the ruler of Apokolips. Alternatively, with Darkseid and his Parademon army posing as much of a threat to him as everyone else, the Knightmare may present the rare instance of Batman and The Joker actually joining forces in The Caped Crusader's efforts to repel the Apokoliptian invaders, similar to a recent team-up in Scott Snyder's Dark Nights: Metal comic where the Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime team-up on an alternate earth not too unlike the Knightmare.
At the moment, the role of Leto's Joker in the Snyder Cut remains a guessing game in what has been the biggest film mysteries in ages. Considering how much Leto's role in Suicide Squad was truncated from David Ayer's original cut (which could itself now hypothetically see the light of day), his Joker can now regain some of the development he was shorn of, especially opposite Affleck's Batman. As the additional photography rolls on, Jared Leto's return is just the latest curveball in the unprecedented story of the Justice League Snyder Cut, and it's clear that it's a story that's still got a long way to go.
