zack snyder's justice league has been out for about a month now and after
watching the film multiple times i've discussed it from many different aspects
whether it be the messages in snyder's trilogy or general breakdowns but one of the other things
that has ledged in my mind after watching the film is how the continuity of the snyder cuts
makes the whole trilogy that he has produced so far seem much more powerful and large in scope
in this video essay i'm going to be discussing the storytelling and filmmaking elements which
make this so intriguing this analysis will also contain spoilers so if you do happen
to be someone who hasn't seen the film or snyder's trilogy then i would recommend watching this video
after you've seen it if you want to see more on the snyder cuts including other video essays and
content then don't forget to subscribe to the channel and turn on your notifications also
if you enjoy this video remember to give it a like rating but without further ado
let's dive into the continuity of zack snyder's justice league and his current dc trilogy
so it's key to point out at the beginning of this video that although it currently seems unlikely
that we'll get two more justice league films there is always the potential that more could
be made by snyder later down the line i myself want to see this happen after loving the snyder
cuts but regardless i'm going to be looking at justice league and the films that snyder made
in his current trilogy when referring to the points that i make when looking at the films
that have been made what impresses me is how the director has made logical steps with characters
and in his filmmaking to continue what was set out in the beginning with man of steel
when it comes to the story and themes of zack snyder's justice league these have all been
advanced and pushed forward in various ways but ways in which he has kept to the ideas presented
in other films one example is the parental motif which i discussed in full detail in a previous
video but it's also key to note here this involves how snyder introduced his dc universe with a heavy
focus on the influence of parents in man of steel we clearly get a story about an individual who has
to become his own person under the influence of two fathers one of krypton and one of earth
it perfectly ties into the idea of clark kent or superman wanting to do the right things for earth
but over the years he must learn about his history and also what he has to become then in batman
v superman we get the deconstruction of both characters with superman it's the deconstruction
of his power and whether he should have the right to have the power over everyone else alongside the
greater blame being put on his shoulders when he clearly just wants to do the right thing
but the conspiracy that lex luthor develops is something that only makes things worse then with
batman we have someone who nearly becomes the criminal he's been fighting all of these years
after the events of the film he reaches a breaking point where he could either kill superman having
been manipulated by lex luthor and the coverage of clark's character or something could connect them
through their basic human impulses this connection comes through both of their mothers and something
that i found to be severely misunderstood i go into more detail in the video essay that
i referenced on screen earlier but the main point is that through man of steel and bbs
we see a huge connection to the breakdown of characters through their history and parental
upbringing both superheroes are heavily linked to their past and snyder was essentially able to
continue this message and go a bit deeper then in zack snyder's justice league the director focused
on growing an answer to this message we still get the parental struggles whether it be with cyborg
and his father flash and his father all wonder woman and her ties to the amazonians
and leaving her mother and femischera but the main answer is a full extension of the themes from the
flight scene in man of steel in how a superhero cannot be judged nor put on a downward spiral when
considering their family and past they can grow into their own individuals and still connect as
a family through the other members of the league all three films have moments of briefly showing
growth within the characters overcoming their deeply rooted struggles whether it be clarke
becoming superman in man of steel bruce redeeming himself in batman v superman or the justice league
members growing into their own through the actions they make as a team in the snyder cuts
snyder has essentially built these connecting issues and it all stems from the relationship
that all of the characters have with their history parents or higher individuals in a system
moving on to another thematic reference that connects all three movies zack snyder and chris
terrio have recently discussed the overarching theme that is portrayed throughout and one which
puts superman's death and resurrection at the forefront of the trilogy's layout
for instance man of steel is a movie that focuses on birth right from the opening scene we literally
see the birth of clark kent and later on when clark dons the cape and grows into the superhero
the birth of superman is complete then in batman v superman we focus on death we literally see
the death of superman but we also see the death of bruce wayne's parents and how that
heavily motivates his current stance with taking down clark's character but also with eventually
fully understanding him then finally in justice league we get a movie about resurrection we of
course once again literally see the resurrection of superman but then we also see how each of the
members of the justice league start on their own and it is through coming together and working as
a team that they find purpose and realize their true potential resurrecting themselves if you
would their desire to belong and bringing their sense of being back to life can also be seen in a
dark reflection to the film's villain stefan wolfe he also shows that he is willing to do anything
to be allowed to return home and welcomed back into darkseid's regime after being exiled
in regards to superman's resurrection snyder also makes a pretty smart reference using the running
time of the film in batman v superman superman's death happens at 2 hours 38 minutes and 57 seconds
into the movie in zack snyder's justice league superman's resurrection happens again at 2 hours
38 minutes and 57 seconds the director himself seemingly confirmed that the link is
intentional liking a post that points out the connection on the social media site vero and in
his interview for justice khan the other day it's also interesting to point out that in the bible
the resurrection of lazarus is described in john 11 38. of course this might be picking a little
bit too much considering the only link seems to be the number 38 but it's still an intriguing
detail and we know that snyder does love his biblical references but the main point is that
we clearly see a strong thematic story structure with the first film being about birth the second
film being about death and the third being about resurrection the story and plot points heavily
linked to this structure and it's one that snyder has continued to build up across his dc films but
alongside the continuity in storytelling it's no secret that zack snyder also uses his filmmaking
to convey messages and establish the world and story being told through his imagery long before
shooting the first frame of any movie directors establish their visual direction with mood boards
storyboards and shot lists to date snyder has written produced or directed a number of films
mostly based on comic books or graphic novels most of his movies originate with what are essentially
built in source materials storyboards including comic book and graphic novel image panels with a
lot of directors this is something that can become difficult to pull off in the right ways but snyder
is one of the rare superhero directors who can really bring these images to life cinematically
but also in ways that have a powerful meaning the most specific way which is continuously
linked throughout the free film snyder has made in the dc universe revolves around his biblical
portrayal of imagery man of steel marks zack snyder going into his christian commentary
traditionally superman is an all-powerful superhero and a beacon of hope and while
the religious comparisons are certainly there rarely is comic clark given the full-blown jesus
treatment 2013's man of steel and 2016's batman v superman however moves superman much closer to god
he's 33 the same age as jesus when crucified and supporters gather to touch their kryptonian savior
superman's ark is jesus christ's bible story but condensed and with more punching his birth is
considered a miracle on krypton where reproduction has become limited and his sacrifice against
doomsday is the ultimate delivering of humanity from sin ahead of justice league's resurrection
snyder goes harder than ever in his pursuit of making henry cavill's superman a modern religious
god with nightmare soldiers bowing in his presence clark physically forming a cross on several
occasions and a carefully positioned stained-glass window sitting behind cavill in a foreboding
moment of self-discovery the visual imagery in all three films convey these messages that i briefly
talked about before and it helps to create a tone one which immediately asks the viewer
to think about what they are seeing it's more than just a cool reference in a superhero movie
and is instead connected to the integral events of each film snyder also uses the aspect ratio
in all three films to convey a sense of expanding scope and intensity which he recently discussed
too in man of steel there's a two three five one aspect ratio and in batman v superman there's a
mixture of two three nine one and four free for the imax scenes it's also interesting to note that
the nightmare is shot in full free which we return to with the nightmare scene in justice league
but when it comes to the snyder cut we learn that the whole film is shot in the for free ratio and
this palette allowed snyder to capture things that you wouldn't see in a traditional shot snyder said
in an interview after the film's release that this was always the intention in that as we would
expand the world the characters and story which eventually reaches dark side on another planet
we see the frame also expands to match it it started to expand in bbs and now it is fully
expanded with the snyder cut but other technical aspects like the lighting transitioning between
light and dark alongside the soundtrack going from hopeful to dramatic and back to uplifting again
all echo a similar display by also shooting on film and using as much practical effects
as possible it brings a sense of reality to a heavily visual effects project and even the
visual effects for the most part are applied successfully what snyder did using the story
themes and filmmaking was outline his construction deconstruction and construction method
across the films but he kept them continuous in the messages and ideas that were being portrayed
snyder really built a visual aesthetic to support his storytelling process and this
has really benefited in the long run this is something that whedon's cut of justice league
didn't really have the foundation of and it really shows once you've seen the snyder cut
but that was my video discussing the continuity in zack snyder's dc films i really hope that down the
line we do get to see the future potential of the snyder vs realized especially with a continuation
of the ideas and filmmaking that snyder pushed in his current free films it does look unlikely but
i guess many people said the same thing about the snyder cart and look where we are today
but what do you think of my analysis and what other aspects do you personally applaud when it
comes to the continuity in zack snyder's films let me know down below in the comments section
for more videos analyzing the justice league snyder cut then don't forget to subscribe to
the channel and turn on your notifications also if you enjoyed this video remember to leave a
like rating but anyway i hope you guys enjoyed it i've been cortex and as always make some noise
you