Harry Lennix Wants to See a Martian Manhunter v Joker Scene in Justice League 2

Harry Lennix says he’d want to see Martian Manhunter take on the Joker in Justice League 2. Lennix played the DC Extended Universe’s General Calvin Swanwick in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; many fans theorizing that his character was J’onn J’onzz a.k.a. the Martian Manhunter in disguise. Snyder’s 4-hour cut of Justice League confirmed this via a pair of scenes, including one where the beloved hero visits Bruce Wayne/Batman following the Knightmare sequence.

The Snyder Cut contains more characters than its theatrical counterpart, perhaps the most unexpected of which being Jared Leto’s revitalized Joker, appearing in an Apokoliptic future where Superman has succumbed to the Anti-Life Equation. The scene between him, Batman, and other members of the League allude to plans for the since-abandoned Snyder-Verse. When Bruce awakens from his nightmare, he’s visited by the Martian Manhunter, who tells Bruce “there’s a war coming” and that he’s here to help.

In a Justice Con interview, Lennix was asked what member of the League would he love to get a chance to interact the most with and what DC villain he would want to take on in Justice League 2. While saying he’d enjoy interacting with Wonder Woman and Superman because it’d be great to see that relationship develop, Lennix spoke on the decision to visit Bruce Wayne. Martian Manhunter appears interested in those who aren’t metahumans, something that translates to the actor’s desire to see his character take on one of the most twisted individuals in comic book history:

“I’d like to take on the Joker in some way, you know what I mean? I’d pick the Joker rather than those kind of other-worldly ones. The Joker is just a nutbag, who would be very interesting to take on.”

Believe it or not, Martian Manhunter and the Joker have gone head-to-head in the comics before, literally. In JLA #11, when battling the Injustice Gang (also set up in Snyder’s Justice League), Martian Manhunter shapeshifts his mind to think like the Joker and begins to think like a supervillain. Then, in JLA #15 (1998), Martian Manhunter uses his telepathic power to manipulate the Joker’s brain to retrieve the reality-warping Philosopher’s Stone, which the Clown Prince of Crime has used to create a “ten-thousand-mile-long grin from South America to Asia Minor.” During Martian Manhunter’s manipulation, the Joker is momentarily cured of his insanity.

Martian Manhunter has described the Joker’s mind as a “storm raging” in the past. It’d be extremely compelling to see a character with an affinity for humanity, who is clearly skeptical of being like Superman, attempt to dissect an adversary that epitomizes our moral and philosophical pitfalls—the mind itself being as slippery a slope as superpowers. Arguably even more than Batman, Martian Manhunter understands his team members and their rogues’ galleries. Lennix would’ve certainly played a major role in sequels to Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Like Leto, whose Joker made a truce with Affleck’s Batman, Lennix’s character has a stake in the world Darkseid seeks to conquer. That said, it’s unclear if Martian Manhunter is even still alive in the Knightmare timeline. Regardless, reluctant friend or foe, fans would love to see Martian Manhunter and the Joker in Justice League 2.