Jared Leto's Joker Mustache Exposed In Leaked Snyder Cut Video
We mustache you a question: Do you think we live in a society that can handle another secret Justice League 'stache?
Well, hold on to your razors, because footage from the set of Zack Snyder's Justice League reshoots just leaked — and it shows that Jared Leto's Joker once sported a very stylish strip of facial hair over his upper lip. Can we get #releasethejokerstache trending?
For the longest time, when it came to the Justice League movie, all anyone could talk about was mustaches. That's because Henry Cavill was contractually prohibited from shaving his Mission: Impossible mustache when he did reshoots for the 2017 theatrical version of the film, and the VFX artists had to digitally remove it in post-production. The effect was jarring, and was just one more reason so many fans wanted Zack Snyder's original cut of the movie released. But as it turns out, you can't keep a good 'stache down — now you can add yet another digital shave to your list. Here's what happened.
Jared Leto wanted to channel "the spirit of Cesar"
Insiders tell us that Jared Leto was thrilled about Zack Snyder's invitation to revisit the Joker role. Before now, he'd only been able to play the Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad, but Snyder wanted to bring him back for the his new four-hour vision of Justice League. To prepare for the reshoots, the infamously committed method actor decided to dive deep into the history of the Joker on film, blending bits and pieces from all of the actors who came before him in his own performance.
He discovered that the very first actor to play the part of the Joker — Cesar Romero in the 1966 Batman television series — refused to shave his mustache, so the showrunners just covered it up with white paint. Leto decided that the only way to honor Romero was to grow a mustache of his own ... but with a signature Jared Leto twist. In a leaked excerpt from a soon-to-be-published interview with Follicle Monthly, Leto explained, "I needed to feel the spirit of Cesar within me. So I found out where he used to live in LA, and I used my Joker skills to break in. I stole all the mustache wax and beard oil I could find, rubbing as much as I could into my own mustache and drinking whatever was left. I now have the Romero essence."
According to our source, when Leto showed up on set, he'd already been in-character as the Joker for over a month, having applied his character's makeup weeks ago and grown his dark, bushy mustache over it, which he'd also dyed green. As he got ready to shoot his scenes, Leto explained the mustache's backstory. Apparently, after Darkseid's forces took over the earth, the Joker's twisted mind snapped even further. As the mustache grew, the Joker began believing it was his own sick, psycho sidekick, which he named Harry — full name Harry Quinn. He refused to shave Harry, believing his prickly partner in crime was all that stood in the way of the Earth being turned into the next Apokalips.
Snyder, knowing better than to ask Leto to break character and having limited time to shoot the new scene, just got the cameras rolling. Our sources on the set reportedly heard Snyder defending the actor's decision to worried producers, saying, "I know it'll cost us another $30 million, but you gotta admit — it's a pretty good joke.'"
Are you Team Stachey, or Team Shavey?
That said, Harry Quinn wasn't the only thing that hit the cutting room floor. Apparently, Jared Leto improvised several lines that directly referenced his mustache — dialogue like "Do you wanna know how I got this mustache?", and "Did you ever try to shave a mustache in the pale moonlight?", and "Top this, Joaquin," and finally, "Wait'll they get a load ... of this mustache."
Another source inside DC Comics' offices revealed that Leto had actually sent the publisher hundreds of letters demanding that the Joker be drawn with a mustache for the next ten years. As of the writing of this article, DC executives have yet to comment on our question about whether or not they might want to add a little beard, too.
Most interestingly, our source said that since footage of the Justice League Mustache Cut leaked, Leto has been cast in the upcoming direct-to-Quibi spin-off Mission: Impossible: Kitchen Nightmares.
What do you think of this startling revelation? Are you Team Stachey, or Team Shavey? And on a totally unrelated note, do you know what day it is?