The Snyder Cut is real and it’s coming to a screen near you. The Zack Snyder-directed “Justice League” cut is set for an HBO max premiere in 2021, this according to the man himself, Snyder, who announced the news during a watchalong on Vero. It appears as though the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag worked, the faithful have been rewarded.
“The truth is…I’m not really in control of it,” teased Snyder. “I’ve said it exists and I’ve been clear about what I did with it. It’s not really up to me. If it was up to me, I would have already left it on a thumbdrive in a bathroom somewhere.” He added, “I would love to see a version of ‘Justice League’ without the mustache,” joked Henry Cavill, who joined Snyder’s watchalong. “It’ll probably be in 2021 because we have a little bit of work to do, but we’re doing it. Get ready,” Snyder added.
Joss Whedon‘s extensive reshoots on “Justice League” no doubt clashed with Zack Snyder‘s original vision. Among the changes, Jesse Eisenberg‘s return as Lex Luthor was reportedly axed, and Gal Gadot‘s Wonder Woman got more screentime from Whedon after the success of “Wonder Woman” surprised everybody over at the WB. It’s not just the characters, the overall mood was rumored to get a lighter makeover, with Whedon deviating away from Snyder’s darker palettes for a more colorful Avengers-esque tone.
“Justice League,” in short, was the clashing of two visions and you could justifiably see that while watching the film. Sure there still was Zack Snyder’s use of ultra slow-mo, the dark interiors and exteriors he so loves to use, and his penchant for the camera zooming in and out of action sequences, but Whedon crashed the party by pulling back on some of that, so much so that as you were watching the movie you could tell exactly who shot what. The styles of these two directors couldn’t be more different, resulting in a messy and inconsistent “Justice League.”
The mixed response to the film was expected, however, while “Justice League” currently has 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, most DCEU fans seemed to have liked it. The film’s CinemaScore was a solid B+ and its 7.4 IMDB rating fairly strong for a DCEU movie that was supposed to be disastrous according to critics and Synder fanatics.
Meanwhile, fans railled behind an online petition demanding Zack Snyder’s original director’s cut. The film’s DP also added his voice to the mix, hoping to see Snyder’s fully realized film one day hit the screen, and even the Snyder’s son, Jett, spoke up, pointing out the flaws he saw in the Whedon version and the unfairness of the WB “meddling” with his dad’s vision. Posting on Vero, Jett wrote:
“On a more serious note, I did enjoy the movie, although it is clearly not what it could have been due to the meddling of Warner Brothers and the forced comedy. The runtime was my biggest gripe with the movie, with events that should take a long time over in a flash;$ but still definitely a fun movie to watch, and would recommend it.”
Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, also chimed in. Asked by MTV News if he would like to see the Snyder cut and or if it even exists— Momoa was, shall we say, unrestrained in his response:
“I’m obsessed with [the idea of the Snyder cut] too, yeah,” Momoa said, “I mean, that’s one thing that sucks in our business where you can’t speak your mind,” he said, and then he just vented out the frustration that most DCEU fans have had ever since the rumored director's cut has been known, “Yeah! Fuck yeah, I want to see it.”
As much as Whedon’s flair for humor works in most of his films, it seemed out of place in “Justice League,” in which, before leaving the production, Snyder set a tone of grim darkness into its frames. Jett isn’t wrong in saying the full vision wasn’t seen on-screen; the film was reportedly originally much longer than its 121 minute running time. And so, the calls for a director’s cut grew louder with each passing day, with even the film’s stuntman Richard Cetrone weighing in, sharing the online petition on Facebook along with the following comments:
“It remains to be seen if Warner Bros. will fulfill the request from fans or if Snyder will be given the keys back to the movie he, unfortunately, had to leave due to a personal tragedy. But one thing is clear: fans would warmly embrace a version of “Justice League” that’s pure Snyder.”
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