With the high-profile release of Zack Snyder's Justice League,
fans are wondering whether the newest DC film release will get a sequel,
especially since the director's cut wraps up with a big old cliffhanger.
So let's dig into the big question the four-hour epic leaves us with: Will the story continue?
Zack Snyder's Justice League ends with what clearly seems to be a setup for a sequel.
After an escaped Lex Luthor tells Deathstroke that Batman is Bruce Wayne,
Batman has yet another dream about the Knightmare reality in which he, Deathstroke, the Flash,
Cyborg, Mera , the Joker, and a now-evil Superman are traversing the Earth after an apocalypse.
Upon waking from his unsetting dream, Bruce is greeted by the Martian Manhunter,
who had previously been masquerading as General Calvin Swanwick and even disguised himself as
Superman's adoptive mother Martha to speak to Lois Lane. Manhunter reveals his true
identity to Batman, expresses his gratitude for bringing the Justice League together,
and tells him that they'll speak again to discuss what Darkseid is going to do next.
If Zack Snyder's Justice League had been released in theaters as the one
and only version of the movie, with no Joss Whedon cut and no campaign
to make the Snyder Cut a reality, a sequel would probably happen.
"If you followed the first two movies, this movie really kind of takes you
into an immersive scope and scale.”
Reviews for Zack Snyder's Justice League have been largely positive, with critics giving it a
73 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and audiences handing it a 96 percent score. The film
is dominating the pop culture conversation. Basically, if the movie had been released
under different circumstances, Warner Bros. would be silly to not greenlight a sequel.
But Zack Snyder's Justice League is what it is:
a director's cut of a movie that already came out in a very different form in 2017.
Snyder himself has said that he ended the movie on a cliffhanger simply because
that's what he would have done originally, not because of future plans. He told IGN:
"[I wanted] to just release the movie exactly as it was designed,
and that is what that scene is really indicative of."
Snyder also explained that he could have crafted an ending that felt more definitive
and didn't leave things open-ended, but that didn't feel genuine or satisfying. He said,
"It's in-genre to end these movies on a cliffhanger. That's kind of how they are,
and I just felt like that's what I wanted to do."
So is Snyder even interested in directing and writing the sequel? The director's answer to that
question is likely to disappoint many fans, even as it offers a slight glimmer of hope.
In January 2021, Snyder said in an interview with Comic Book Debate
that he has no plans to continue on with the DCEU in the future — but he admitted
that he never thought he'd really be in a position to release his version of Justice
League in the first place, so there's a very small chance things could change.
"Look, I never thought I'd be here doing this. I didn't think I'd be finishing Justice
League. [...] As far as what I did and [...] my vision for what I wanted to do with these
characters and the journey I wanted them to go on, it's well-known that I planned on more
movies — five movies or something — but I'm busy. I've got a lot going on. [...] Is it cool that the
fans have so much faith in the trajectory? Yes, it's amazing, and I couldn't be happier and I'm
excited for them to see Justice League so they can really drink the entire elixir of Justice League.
But would I continue? I have no plan to. But like I said, I didn't think I'd be here, so who knows?"
Snyder broached the subject again at IGN Fan Fest in late February 2021,
making it seem as though he might be more amenable to revisiting his Justice League
world at some point. When asked if he would consider directing a sequel, Snyder said,
"That's very hypothetical. I think that I would say, I would believe it when I see it,
and happy to cross that bridge when I see it approaching."
"Anything is possible. Clearly."
Of course, the key decision makers when it comes to whether there will be another Snyder-directed
Justice League are the executives at Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment,
which fall under the parent company WarnerMedia. All was quiet on that
front in the lead-up to the Snyder Cut's HBO Max debut. Then, on Monday, March 22,
WarnerMedia got candid about where things are going from here. In short, the media
conglomerate maintains that Zack Snyder's Justice League is the last DC movie he'll ever make.
Ann Sarnoff , CEO of WarnerMedia Studios, told Variety that Zack Snyder's Justice League brings
the director's trilogy to an end. That trilogy is 2013's Man of Steel, its 2016 sequel Batman
v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and now Zack Snyder's Justice League. When asked about the campaign to,
quote, "restore the Snyder-Verse" and allow Snyder to create more movies in the DCEU, Sarnoff said
the Snyder Cut is a one-and-done situation, and DC plans to move forward with other plans. She said,
"I appreciate that they love Zack's work and we are very thankful for his many contributions
to DC. We're just so happy that he could bring his cut of the Justice League to life
because that wasn't in the plan until about a year ago. With that comes the completion
of his trilogy. [...] We're very happy we've done this, but we're very excited about the
plans we have for all the multi-dimensional DC characters that are being developed right now."
So it seems that cliffhangers and fan campaigns aren't enough to make a second Zack Snyder's
Justice League happen. In the end, at least one Snyder Cut got to see the light of day.
And that was a pretty unlikely occurrence itself.
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