The appearance of Jared Leto’s Joker in the trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League instantly became meme-worthy thanks to his “we live in a society…” line. However, that dialogue is completely absent in the final film. While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Zack Snyder revealed that Leto improvised his now infamous line.
“We went back and forth a bit, and I’ll give Jared credit for that little ad-lib there, because it was really, really beautiful,” said Snyder. “[The scene] was based on a bunch of ideas that I had had over the years. I had been planting a bunch of Easter eggs in the other movies that I thought it was time to harvest into this scene.”
According to Deborah Snyder, it also took some convincing to get Leto to reprise his role for the first time since Suicide Squad.
“Zack and Jared talked for awhile,” recalled Deborah Snyder. “Before we approached the studio, he wanted to make sure that they would be interested. At first, it was like ‘No,’ and then it was like, ‘Well maybe,’ and then Zack was like, ‘Do you want to see the scene that I worked on?'”
RELATED: Zack Snyder’s Justice League Review
Leto and Ben Affleck also shot their sides of the scene on separate days due to scheduling conflicts. Additionally, Zack Snyder revealed that he was open to a Ryan Reynolds cameo as Green Lantern. However, it failed to come together.
“There was another idea I had for the Green Lantern that wasn’t Ryan, and so I thought that if we had gone down this path of Green Lantern, I would have had to have Ryan as the additional Lantern,” added Snyder. “Filling out the Lantern Corps a little bit more than say just one Green Lantern.”
Zack Snyder’s Justice League will hit HBO Max on Thursday, March 18.
Are you disappointed that Joker’s “we live in a society” line won’t be in the new Justice League cut? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer: The Deluxe Edition
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program also provides a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
