ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE
AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
YOU CAN ALL STOP ASKING NOW – ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE IS FINALLY HERE AND IN THE PAGES OF SFX
WORDS: BRYAN CAIRNS
WARNER BROS, ALAMY
BACK IN 2017, THE JUSTICE LEAGUE FEATURE film assembled six of Earth’s mightiest heroes –Aquaman, Batman, Cyborg, Flash, Superman and Wonder Woman – to save the world from Darkseid’s minion Steppenwolf and an army of Parademons. Now Zack Snyder’s Justice League cut brings back the director to fulfill his creative vision and heal his soul. Snyder (Man Of Steel, 300, Dawn Of The Dead) had been tasked with helming the original League. But in 2016, after numerous clashes with Warner Brothers over the project’s narrative content, running time and tone, tragedy struck. Snyder’s 20-year-old daughter Autumn took her own life.
In the aftermath, a grieving Snyder quit and The Avengers’ Joss Whedon stepped in to finish the job. He reportedly rewrote and reshot 75% of Justice League… to disastrous results. The movie received harsh reviews and landed with a loud thud at the box office.
But then something unexpected occurred: Snyder’s vocal fanbase rallied to mount a campaign, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. The devoted movement engaged in petitions, social media and phone calls, as well as spending money on billboards and flying banner ads in order to get his original cut released. Eventually, Warner Brothers caved in, and in an unprecedented move, the studio approached Snyder with the opportunity to realise his vision of the Justice League. He declined.
“When Warner Brothers first called, there was this idea that they would just release the rough cut of the movie, exactly as I had it on my computer, with no visual effects or anything,” Snyder tells SFX. “‘Would I be interested in that?’ And I was like, ‘No, not interested in that.’ I felt that was too much of a gift for the haters. But after a while, and after I thought about it, I pitched Warner Brothers what I thought would be a cool way to finish it. If they did have interest in it, this would be a way to do it. After I finished telling them the story, they watched the movie and they were like, ‘Oh, wow. There’s even more than we thought.’ Then HBO Max said yes.”