Zack Snyder’s Justice League trailer teases faceoff between Batman and Joker

The trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League, the four-hour director's cut that will release on HBO Max on March 18, has just dropped online. The new version differs drastically from the 2017 theatrical version, which released to poor critical and commercial reception.

Apart from presenting Snyder's original vision, the new version features additions, most notably Jared Leto as Joker, the supervillain role he reprises from Suicide Squad. The trailer gives a glimpse of him talking to Ben Affleck's Batman, teasing the intense faceoff to come. It also revealed footage of Black Suit Superman and new supervillain Darkseid.

The trailer drew praise from fans on Twitter, with one calling it, "The best valentines gift a boy could ask for #SnyderCut." Another wrote, "This looks great, Zack. I'm very glad that we get to see the movie, but I'm even more happy for you, the cast and crew. People finally get to see the true vision that so many people worked hard on, and that's brilliant. Congratulations."

Justice League first released in November 2017. Snyder, the original director, walked out of the project before its completion and was replaced by Joss Whedon. While it was reported that he quit the project due to personal reasons, there was also speculation of creative differences with Warner Bros.

The theatrical cut of Justice League was described by many as a Frankenstein's movie, cobbled together with footage shot by Snyder and Whedon. It made less than $700 million worldwide, against a budget of $300 million. It reportedly lost Warner Bros around $60 million.

In 2019, Snyder was brought back to complete his vision for the film, after sustained fan pressure. He shot additional footage (some of it remotely), completed extensive visual effects work on the film, and brought back Junkie XL's score.

Apart from Leto's Joker and Affleck's Batman, the film stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and Jason Momoa as Aquaman. Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor are new additions to the cast.