During an appearance on ‘A Late Show’ on Thursday night, the actor talked about returning to play the iconic DC villain.

Jared Leto makes his return as the Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which premiered Thursday on HBO Max, and spoke to Stephen Colbert on Thursday night about taking on the “incredible” role once again.

Appearing on A Late Show, Leto expressed how grateful he was to be a part of Snyder’s Justice League and referred to the “Snyder Cut” as “one for the ages.” The film will mark Leto’s first return as the Joker after portraying the classic DC villain in 2016’s Suicide Squad. 

Colbert was quick to mention how it’s discussed that Leto’s appearance in Justice League could mark a “redemption” to “expand the character” of the Joker. But Leto reiterated that he simply felt honored to be asked by Snyder to step into the iconic villain’s shoes again.

“I was just happy to be a part of his dream and to get asked to play the Joker for a second time was just a treat,” Leto said. “It’s one of those roles that’s just incredible.”

During Leto’s appearance, he could be seen wearing a “We Live in a Society” shirt — Leto said profits from sales of the shirt will go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention — as an homage to a popular Joker-related meme and a line he ad-libbed in a now-infamous Justice League scene that appeared in a new trailer for Snyder’s Justice League. The clip of Leto reciting the line went viral on social media and left many fans thrilled.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Snyder gave kudos to Leto for the now-iconic line: “We went back and forth a bit, and I’ll give Jared credit for that little ad-lib there, because it was really, really beautiful,” Snyder said.

The director also shared that he wrote Leto’s Joker scene during COVID-19 lockdown at his home. “It was based on a bunch of ideas that I had had over the years,” he said. “I had been planting a bunch of Easter eggs in the other movies that I thought it was time to harvest into this scene.”

To further compare Leto’s original Joker portrayal to the new film, Colbert held photographs of the actor posing in the character’s then-green hair with skin covered in tattoos in Suicide Squad to the darker and more frightening Joker in Justice League. Reacting to both photographs, Leto explained that it shows “there’s some years apart” between the two.

“I think it’s an evolution,” Leto said, adding that it’s common when working with a different director that “they bring out different things in you.”

Earlier in the day, Leto took to Twitter to honor Snyder ahead of the film’s release: “Zack, you’re a warrior and a madman. You know this world like nobody else and it was incredible to be a part of retelling this story in the way that you always dreamed of,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself on set with the director.

Though Leto’s Joker revival has been anticipated, Deborah Snyder told THR that it took a little time to secure the actor for the film. “Zack and Jared talked for a while,” the producer said. “Before we approached the studio, he wanted to make sure that they would be interested. At first, it was like ‘No,’ and then it was like, ‘Well, maybe,’ and then Zack was like, ‘Do you want to see the scene that I worked on?'”

Ben Affleck, who reprises his role as Batman in Justice League, and Leto ended up shooting their scenes separately due to scheduling issues, with the scene completed over three days late last year.

Watch a clip of Leto on A Late Show below.