After years of fan demands, the Snyder Cut of Justice League is finally on its way to
audiences. Was this version of the movie always real? Why didn't we get to see it in the first
place? And what can we expect when it makes its debut?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Justice League went on a two-week hiatus in March
2017 so director Zack Snyder could address a family matter. In May, the tragic reason
for the break was revealed: Autumn Snyder, the 20-year-old daughter of Zack Snyder and
Justice League producer Deborah Snyder, had tragically taken her own life. By that time,
Justice League was in the middle of a rigorous post-production schedule in order to meet
a release date of November 17, but the Snyders announced that they were stepping away from
the film permanently to grieve and heal.
The decision to walk away came after Snyder screened a rough cut which is likely the origin
of any "Snyder Cut" rumors and then decided it needed some additional scenes. Screenwriter
and director Joss Whedon best known for creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer and directing the
first two Avengers films was hired to write and direct the additional scenes.
After Zack Snyder left the movie and gave up control Joss Whedon got around $25 million
to shoot a lot of new material, and then oversaw the theatrical release of Justice League,
which the studio mandated run two hours or less. All that considered, there just has
to be a wealth of unseen footage and it had to go somewhere.
In December 2019, Snyder confirmed that some kind of Snyder Cut existed, posting to Vero
an image of film canisters labeled "ZS JL Director's Cut, Running Time 214." Decoded,
that's "Zack Snyder, Justice League Director's Cut, Running Time 214 minutes." That's a three
hour and 34 minute movie, well over Warner Bros.'s two-hour demand. Electronic musician
Junkie XL told ScreenRant in 2019 that he completed a score for this extra-long, Snyder-approved
version.
But is a "Snyder Cut" a glorified "extended edition" DVD-type deal? Warner Bros. producer
Charles Roven told the Washington Times that the math doesn't allow for extensive changes
between Snyder's vision and Whedon's end product. He explained:
"Let's just say 80, 85 percent of the movie is what was originally shot. There's only
so much you can do with the other 15, 20 percent of the movie."
Yeah not exactly an optimistic perspective.
"Oh, see, now that's cold. That's a betrayal… I feel stung by that."
Partly because neither critics nor big DC fans especially cared for Justice League,
and partly because the public knew all about the film's extraordinarily troubled production
history, the legend of the Snyder Cut grew in the years after the film hit theaters in
November 2017. In 2019, Snyder Cut-demanding fans pooled $1,170 to hire a plane to fly
over San Diego Comic-Con, trailing a banner that read: "WB ReleasetheSnyderCut of Justice
League." On November 17, 2019 — the two-year anniversary of Justice League's unveiling
— the "ReleaseThe SnyderCut" movement launched. On that first day, more than 400,000 people
called on Warner Bros. to release a cut of the film that the studio wouldn't even confirm
existed. In fact, Warner representatives wouldn't comment on any plans for re-releasing Justice
League at all.
As early as 2018, a Warner representative told the Wall Street Journal that the company
had no plans to release a different version of Justice League. But where there is a will,
there's a way. And DC fans cast included turned out to have a helluva lot of will.
Surprisingly defiant in the face of Warner Bros. indifference, members of the Justice
League cast have repeatedly spoken out about the Snyder Cut its existence, its quality,
and whether it should be released. When "Release The Snyder Cut" became a trending topic and
rallying cry on social media in 2019, Gal Gadot certainly put some pressure on Warner
Bros. executives. In November 2019, she tweeted a picture of herself captioned "Release The
Snyder Cut." Ben Affleck followed suit, and so did D.C.E.U actor Joe Manganiello, using
the hashtag alongside an Instagram picture of himself in his Deathstroke costume. Ray
Fisher who played Cyborg also echoed this call to action, though he later deleted the
tweet.
And then there's Jason Momoa, a.k.a. Aquaman, who claims to have actually seen some print
of the director's original vision. He told MTV News:
"I'm obviously indebted to Warners and DC. I don't know how they feel about it, but as
a fan, I'm very, very happy that I got to see it."
Superman actor Henry Cavill, however, claims not to know what anybody is talking about.
During a press tour for The Witcher in December 2019, he told a reporter:
"I have not seen any Snyder Cut. I don't know if there is anything that exists that is a
Snyder Cut. I'm sure there is footage out there which has probably been pieced together
over the years."
We may never know the specific act be it by a fan, a cast member, or even Zack Snyder
himself that finally made the release of the Snyder Cut a possibility. But one thing is
for certain: Somehow, someone successfully brought it back from the dead. Kind of.
You see, if any Snyder Cut of Justice League ever did exist, it was definitely a work print,
or a rough cut, with missing effects, incomplete and various other holes that prevented it
from an initial release. On the Reel Blend podcast, filmmaker and comics media lover
Kevin Smith said that the Snyder Cut was never a full-fledged finished film. Instead, as
he explained:
"It was a movie that people in production could watch and fill in the blanks. It was
certainly not meant for mass consumption."
That would explain why it's not hitting HBO Max until 2021. Just after the announcement
that some form of the Snyder version of the film would eventually make it to the streaming
platform, The Hollywood Reporter noted that the filmmaker has a lot of work ahead of him.
He's rehiring the original Justice League post-production staff to get the Snyder Cut
into releasable shape, which means a lot of editing and special effects rendering.
There's also speculation Snyder will have to bring back the film's superhero cast to
record new dialogue for unfinished sequences. The newly produced material will be expensive:
Warner Bros. has earmarked somewhere between $20 million and $30 million to finish the
movie.
"We're with you til it's done."
"Honestly, I think we're all gonna be dead way before that."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite
movies and TV shows are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so
you don't miss a single one.