‘Joker Jesus’ Follows Overt Religious Symbolism in Superman Movies, Sparks Predictions for New ‘Justice League’
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the most controversial portrayal of Jesus currently circulating on social media is tied to what might be the most controversial comic book project of all time.
The black-and-white crucifix of Jared Leto’s Joker is so far succeeding in its aim to shock and awe.
Photo by Zack Snyder.
The photo was released alongside a Vanity Fair article about #TheSnyderCut of “Justice League,” which will land on streaming service HBO Max March 18.
Vanity Fair discusses the complicated Snyder cut controversy, which began in 2017 with the original release of the movie. Director Zack Snyder has been a common name in the DC comic book movie universe beginning with 2013’s “Man of Steel.” He’s always been a controversial director because of his penchant for making darker, grittier superhero movies (“Man of Steel,” for example, was full of 9/11-esque imagery).
Critics say Snyder is an “overkill director” who tries but fails to give heroes a deeper sense of self; Snyder fans say the critics “just don’t get it” or aren’t prepared to handle a comic book movie that makes them think.
It was common knowledge at the time that director Zack Snyder left — or had been removed from — the project, and Joss Whedon took over with extensive reshoots and changes. Snyder told Vanity Fair he kept the four-hour movie, still in black and white, on his laptop, but never intended to do anything with it. Until, that is, die-hard Snyder fans began campaigning on social media to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.
The Joker isn’t even in the officially released version of the movie. So there’s no shortage of fan speculation about what the Snyder cut will entail, or what the Joker’s role will be. But those who are familiar with Snyder’s work aren’t surprised by the overt religious imagery of the Joker Jesus image.
In “Man of Steel,” Superman sits in a church, the space behind him framed with a stained glass Jesus, and debates offering himself as a sacrifice for all mankind.
In the same movie, he further embodies that Christlike sacrifice when he hangs in the sky, the sun casting a spotlight on his brilliance and the Earth below him. His arms outstretched as though he was on a cross.
Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers.
“Batman v. Superman” contains the screen perhaps most laden with religious symbols: after Superman’s death, he’s cradled in the arms of Lois Lane in a way very similar to Michelangelo’s “Pietà.” Behind him, crosses adorn the landscape.
Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers.
Snyder says he wants to play off of Christlike parallels that already exist in Superman’s mythology, which he isn’t wrong about. But the lack of subtlety in such symbolism has been critiqued as heavy-handed. And that’s just Superman.
What could Jesus Christ and the Joker possibly have in common? If there’s anything we know about the Joker, it’s that he’s not Christlike at all — he’s the opposite of that, a perversion of all that’s good.
It means that if the Joker is portrayed as unironically Christlike, the movie will shock and outrage many Christian communities. Still, there has not been online backlash yet.
As for what it means for “Justice League,” some predict the image sets up a partnership between Batman and the Joker, which would be shocking itself. It’s possible Snyder wants to set the Joker up as an Antichrist figure — an evil, powerful inevitability — or maybe just toy with the religious heroism he’s so fond of.
But it won’t be certain until Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” releases.
Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.