For years, fans wondered exactly how much of Joss Whedon's Justice League was original
to his vision, and how much he took from Zack Snyder. Now that the Snyder Cut of the film
is available on HBO Max, we have a much better idea of exactly how much came from each director
— and the difference between the two is striking.
In addition to numerous changes in the narrative structure and character development in Zack
Snyder's Justice League, the tone and feel of the two films is much different overall.
You can see each director's signature style, and it seems pretty clear that in this case,
most fans and critics agree Zack Snyder's was a better fit to tell the story.
Although the Snyder Cut is making a lot of DC fans happy, there were some scenes in 2017's
Justice League that were entertaining, and honestly kind of missed in the unrelentingly
bleak 2021 version.
For example, while Barry Allen remains the primary source of comic relief in the Snyder
Cut, fans definitely noticed that many of his most memorable moments from Whedon's version
were left on the cutting room floor. In some cases, that was very much a good thing — did
anyone really miss the cringey moment when The Flash face-planted into Wonder Woman's
chest?
However, some of his throwaway lines did add a bit of fun to Justice League — like when
he first saw the resurrected Superman.
"Pet Sematary!"
The reference to Stephen King's classic novel didn't need much more than a name drop, because
anyone who's read it or seen the movie adaptations knows it makes it very clear that when you
bring things back from the dead, sometimes they come back wrong.
"Sometimes, dead is better."
Barry's reference, while not exactly helpful in the moment, was both apt and amusing.
There are so many stark differences between the Whedon Cut and the Snyder Cut that it's
hard to keep track of them — but the ones that significantly change the personality
of the characters are pretty hard to miss. One of these personality tweaks was on display
when the superheroes headed into the tunnels.
In the Snyder Cut, The Flash leaves a lot of his dorkiness behind and shows himself
to be a more confident fighter. In Whedon's Justice League, he has a panicky moment when
he confesses to Batman that he's not ready to fight Steppenwolf.
"Here's the thing. See, I'm afraid of bugs and guns and obnoxiously tall people."
It's funny, sure, but it's also one of the few times that his role as a tension-breaker
was used to reveal a bit more about his vulnerabilities. We don't get to see a whole lot of metahumans
acting vulnerable in Snyder's take. Another downside to the change in Barry's trajectory
here is that we missed out on Bruce advising him to focus on saving one person, which marked
a poignant moment of mentorship between the two.
Speaking of the Dark Knight, in many ways, the Batman we meet in the Snyder Cut is different
from the one we saw in the original theatrical version of Justice League. From beginning
to end, his story takes different turns — both subtle and not-so-subtle — and the end result
is a character who is even more stoic than he was in the original Justice League.
That means many of Batman's jokes from the Whedon Cut were not present in the Snyder
Cut. Snyder's Batman doesn't really do comedy. In some cases, that's for the better — but
his sense of humor was missed in the scene where he takes the Knightcrawler out to dispatch
some Parademons.
"Sorry, guys, I didn't bring a sword."
Of all the members of the Justice League, Aquaman definitely casts the most intimidating
shadow. That's why the moment in the Whedon Cut when he's accidentally touching Wonder
Woman's infamous Lasso of Truth, and begins to confess that he's afraid of dying, was
especially funny. Momoa pulled the moment off with gusto, too, switching quickly from
soft and mushy to grumpy and threatening after he handed the lasso back to Diana.
"If you say a word about this, you'll meet every piranha I know."
So, it's a bit regrettable that this moment didn't make it into the Snyder Cut, though
that's likely because the director stuck to a hard rule about removing all traces of the
Whedonesque. Luckily, we got to see plenty of Aquaman in the Snyder Cut, so it more than
made up for this missing moment.
And finally, if anything highlights the difference between the two directors' styles perfectly,
it's the difference between those two epilogue scenes. Arguably one of the more lighthearted
highlights from Joss Whedon's Justice League was the post-credits scene that saw Barry
Allen and Clark Kent preparing for a friendly race to the Pacific Coast. Does it add anything
to the overall story? No, not really — but it does give us a chance to see these two
characters banter, and bond.
"It's not like, y'know, a macho measuring thing."
"But if I win, you're off the team."
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