Zack Snyder explains the origins of the “we live in a society” line, plus plans for Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern

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Zack Snyder has revealed that he considered including Ryan Reynolds in the Snyder Cut – and also discussed the origins of Jared Leto’s Joker saying the infamous “we live in a society” line.

Theorizing was rife that Reynolds would appear in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, after the actor starred as Hal Jordan in 2011’s Green Lantern. Reynolds even poked fun at the rumor, commenting on Twitter: “I’m not playing Hawkman in Black Adam. Although I generally do whatever the hell [The Rock] tells me to do. I would however love to be in Zack Snyder’s Justice League movie and I’ve heard I may already be in it? #SnyderCut”

I’m not playing Hawkman in Black Adam. Although I generally do whatever the hell @TheRock tells me to do. I would however love to be in Zack Snyder’s Justice League movie and I’ve heard I may already be in it? #SnyderCutAugust 4, 2020

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It turns out (spoiler alert) Reynolds is not in the Snyder Cut – but there was an idea at one point to bring him in.

“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,” Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab). 

He also explained the origins of that immortal Joker line, which doesn’t actually appear in the movie, revealing it was all Leto. 

“We went back and forth with it, and I’ll give Jared credit for that little ad-lib there, because it was really, really beautiful,” Snyder said.

He added of the Knightmare timeline, a dystopian future where Darkseid has conquered Earth and Superman has succumbed to his mind-control: “It was based on a bunch of ideas that I had had. I had been planting a bunch of Easter eggs in the other movies that I thought it was time to harvest into this scene.”  The timeline was first glimpsed in the Snyder Cut’s predecessor, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

If you’re all caught up on the Snyder Cut, check out our explainers on everything you might have missed below:

• 10 biggest Easter eggs (opens in new tab) in Zack Snyder’s Justice League
• What would have happened in Zack Snyder’s Justice League post-credits (opens in new tab)?
• The biggest differences between Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Joss Whedon’s (opens in new tab)
• Everything we know about Justice League 2 (opens in new tab)
• Zack Snyder’s Justice League ending (opens in new tab) explained
• The best HBO Max prices (opens in new tab)