Zack Snyder's Justice League: Jared Leto Ad-Libbed Infamous Trailer Line That Went Viral

When Jared Leto's Joker appeared in a Zack Snyder's Justice League trailer with the line "we live in a society where honor is a distant memory" -- a nod to the popular "we live in a society" meme popularized after The Dark Knight -- social media lit up with reactions, be it delight or disgust, that this dopey joke had been validated by an award-winning actor in a gigantic tentpole movie. That wasn't how Snyder had envisioned it all going down, though; according to the filmmaker, the "we live in a society" line was an ad lib by Leto on the day, and they went with it.

The line didn't ultimately make the final cut of Zack Snyder's Justice League. Still, it provided a fun and viral trailer moment for the character.

"We went back and forth with it," Snyder told THR. "I'll give Jared credit for that little ad lib there."

The "we live in a society" meme was a format in which those proud of not fitting into said society would point out supposed hypocrisies or failings inherent in it. These memes would often be attached to images of the Joker -- usually, Heath Ledger's from The Dark Knight -- despite the Joker never having said the words in the actual movie. The meme died down years ago, but folks started using it again ironically when Joker started releasing promotional materials.

At one point, fans petitioned to have the line included in Todd Phillips's self-serious Joker movie, which kind of makes Leto's delivery of the line the latest in a series of fanservice moments associated with Zack Snyder's Justice League, which the filmmaker concedes would not be rolling out tomorrow if it wasn't for hyper-vocal fans who made their desire to see it well known to anyone with an internet connection.

In Zack Snyder's Justice League, determined to ensure Superman's (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.

The film will be available to American subscribers to HBO Max tomorrow.