The Resurrection of Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Zack Snyder’s Justice League was supposed to be the Holy Grail of superhero cinema. Instead, it became a mythic tale about a director unwilling to compromise his vision and the problems that plague the current Hollywood studio system.

The opening scenes of Zack Snyder’s Justice League feel like they were lifted right out of a sacred text. The mythic visual imagery on display is evocative of tales from Greek myths, Hindu scripture, and the Old Testament. If recited from a religious text, the opening of the film would read something like this:

On the day The Superman died, his screams of agony echoed throughout the world.

The righteous became filled with dread.

The malevolent became emboldened.

With God now dead, the Devil could finally seize the day.

From the birth of Superman in Man of Steel (2013), his death in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – The Ultimate Edition (2016), and his resurrection in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), Snyder’s Superman trilogy, a title that is more unofficial than official, is now complete. As evidenced from the opening scenes in Snyder’s long-awaited director’s cut of 2017’s Justice League, the director’s vision of the DC Comics universe was deeply grounded in religious allegory.

This religious symbolism is not unique to Snyder’s Justice League. The director’s previous two entries in his Superman trilogy showcased similar religious undertones and iconography. Snyder treated Superman as a Christ-like figure sent to Earth to enlighten and inspire humanity to do great things. And like the birth, death, and resurrection of Superman in his trilogy, Snyder’s iteration of Justice League serves as an eerily similar parable about a film that was never meant to see the light of day.

What underlies Zack Snyder’s Justice League isn’t simply a Hollywood tale of a movie director finally getting the chance to showcase his unique vision to the world. What was supposed to be the Holy Grail of superhero cinema turned out to be a mythic tale in and of itself about the problems that plague the current Hollywood studio system and the desire for studios to generate the next great billion-dollar franchise. The road to Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a tale of corporate studio ineptitude, personal loss, and the power of fandom in the social media age.

There was a time when the executives who ran movie studios were empathetic to filmmakers and their auteurist sensibilities. But in recent years, studios have become subsidiaries of multinational conglomerates. As a result, studios no longer take risks on visionary filmmakers and always choose to play it safe to meet the exacting forecasts of corporate spreadsheets and their shareholders’ feverish expectations. The art of filmmaking, in effect, has become wholly compromised to meet corporate mandates.

There is this general misconception that movie studios are loaded and sit on unlimited funds, ready to finance any movie they want to make. The reality is that movie studios, like all businesses, must raise and spend money to make money. This is a never-ending cycle in the world of moviemaking. Hundreds of millions of dollars of borrowed money are pumped into the production of tentpole movies like Justice League. Investors expect a profit. At worst, they want to break even. But never do they want a loss. At the end of the day, moviemaking is a business, and investors want a return on their investment.

But when a visionary director like Zack Snyder is given the reigns to a franchise containing the crown jewels of a movie studio, that vision must be shepherded to fruition. If not, and as evidenced by 2017’s Justice League, studios risk losing more than just money; they end up losing their reputation and goodwill between audiences.

The scope of Snyder’s original plans for Justice League and Warner Bros.’ burgeoning DC Comics cinematic universe is well documented by cinephiles. It serves as a frustrating tale of what could have been. Snyder’s original vision for Justice League was epic in scope and spanned a proposed three-film saga in the vein of the monumental The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Warner Bros. severely truncated these plans after the critical panning of 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and its box office underperformance.

Right before the film’s release, filmmakers and cast attended an event in New York hosted by Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ parent company, WarnerMedia, to assuage investors’ anxieties that their investment was in good hands. “These guys were in charge because they controlled the money at the very top of the pyramid,” said Chris Terrio, co-writer of Batman v Superman and Justice League, in an interview with Vanity Fair. “They were making big decisions—not the film executives we’re talking about, but Wall Street guys.”

The theatrical cut of Batman v Superman was not what Snyder originally envisioned. Released on March 25, 2016, the highly anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a disjointed film, harshly edited, with scenes clearly left on the cutting room floor. With characters and subplots cut, and scenes shaved just enough to alter character motives and plot, no amount of editing to meet executive mandates for a PG-13 film running less than three hours could have saved the theatrical cut from its critical drumming and underwhelming box office and fan response. As Terrio later lamented, “I was proud of the script when I completed it, but it turns out that when you remove the 30 minutes that give the characters motivation for the climax, the film just doesn’t work. . . . [Y]ou can’t skip on the character and think the audience will give a shit about the VFX.”

Snyder did get to have his cut of Batman v Superman, albeit directly on home video with a handful of limited theatrical screenings. Rated R and subtitled The Ultimate Edition, Snyder’s director’s cut of Batman v Superman was more nuanced than the theatrical cut. Subplots and character moments were reinserted, which gave the film a better narrative flow. The film became more palatable for critics and audiences, especially the diehard fans who felt shortchanged with the theatrical cut.

Far from a perfect film, Snyder’s director’s cut of Batman v Superman was not without merit or vision. The film depicted Superman as a Christlike figure that was both venerated and loathed by humanity, who wrestled with an existential turmoil about his place in the world. Superman was killed by the monstrous Doomsday in the film’s final act, setting the stage for what was supposed to be his resurrection in the much-anticipated Justice League the following year.

But it was too little, too late. The damage from the divisive theatrical cut of Batman v Superman had already been done. The negative response to the theatrical cut alarmed executives. The film became a pariah for Warner Bros., who wanted to distance the film from any future DC movies. “I feel like the studio had this hatred for Batman v Superman,” explained Snyder in an interview with SFX Magazine. “There was this pressure on me to divorce [Justice League] from Batman v Superman, which I didn’t want to do, and which I didn’t do. Frankly, it’s a trilogy of movies, so it continues the story.” Co-writer Terrio also confirmed the anxiety faced by Warner Bros. “There was a mood of fear at the studio. . . . My impression was that people in boardrooms started making the decisions. And they were decisions based on arbitrary metrics that had nothing to do with the stories that were being told.”

Hoping to eschew the dark tone of Batman v Superman and the resulting negative critical and public reaction to the film, Warner Bros. became eager to emulate rival Marvel Studios’ winning formula for making crowd-pleasing, light-hearted, and, more importantly, billion-dollar grossing comic book fare. The studio started to lose faith in Snyder’s vision of the DC universe they entrusted him with.

Well into the production of Justice League and feverishly trying to meet the movie’s November 2017 release date, Snyder found himself fighting a battle with the studio over his creative decisions for the film. Studio-appointed handlers were put on set to keep a watchful eye on Snyder to ensure he didn’t stray from any of the studio’s creative mandates for the film.

Joss Whedon, director of Marvel’s The Avengers, was brought on by Warner Bros. to shadow Snyder and inject some of his own creative decisions into Justice League, mainly by tweaking the screenplay and writing a few scenes. Bewildered, Snyder found himself locked in a creative battle with the studio, a battle he knew he could not win and one he did not want to fight. It became clear to Snyder that his vision had fallen out of favor with the studio.

The final straw came when Snyder learned of the sudden suicide of his daughter, Autumn. Snyder continued to work on Justice League as a means of escaping the anguish of his daughter’s passing. But the confluence of events became too much for him to bear. Deep into post-production, Snyder said goodbye to the film he shepherded and left the production to be with his family during their heartbreaking loss. Contrary to reports at the time, Snyder did not appoint Whedon to replace him; the studio did.

Whedon officially took over directorial duties and instituted sweeping changes to the script. The reshoots on Justice League were extensive. The lighter tone seen in Whedon’s Avengers movies, along with the quips that had defined rival Marvel Studios’ brand of cheerfulness, was inserted to appeal to a family audience. Whedon ended up scrapping anywhere from about 50% to nearly 90% of Snyder’s original film when the troubled production was all said and done.

Terrio was shut out of the reshoots and later stated his frustrations with what Snyder’s epic take on DC Comics’ mythology had become. “When the movie was taken away, that felt like it was some directive that had come from people who are neither filmmakers nor film-friendly—the directive to make the movie under two hours, regardless of what the movie needed to do, and to make the colors brighter, and to have funny sitcom jokes in it.”

What was released on November 17, 2017, was a disastrous and haphazardly made film. Joss Whedon’s Justice League – Snyder was still credited as director for the theatrical version – had jarring shifts in tone and forced levity. The CGI was painfully wonky in certain scenes and didn’t have the production value expected of a film of that scale.

Whedon’s reshoots were also glaringly obvious when spliced together with Snyder’s unique aesthetic. The film struggled to replicate several defining tropes of Marvel Studios’ films, especially their signature mid-credits and after-credits bonus scenes. Joss Whedon’s Justice League was critically panned and became the lowest grossing of the Snyder era of DC films.

Audiences despised the film and made their frustrations known on social media. The film was dubbed “Josstice League,” a tongue-in-cheek jab at Whedon. Fans ridiculed Warner Bros.’ creative decisions for the film and didn’t know if the franchise would continue, given the awful reception. Justice League came and went as fans anticipated the latest Marvel film while ridiculing Warner Bros.’ futile attempts to emulate Marvel’s success. An anonymous studio executive commenting on Whedon’s Justice League said of the film, “It was so awkward because nobody wanted to admit what a piece of shit it was.”

Just like the studio ineptitude that led to the theatrical cut of Batman v Superman, frustrated fans were once again left confounded at what could have been with Justice League and how on Earth Warner Bros. could make the same mistake twice. The goodwill between fans had soured and had become almost irredeemable.

Whispers of a Snydercut of Justice League languishing away in a film vault at Warner Brothers started to gain traction. Internet rumor or actual intel, no one knew, until Snyder himself confirmed it. A cut of the film did exist, and Snyder himself egged on the fabled nature of it. Lacking visual effects, roughly edited, and in black and white, a mere skeleton of a finished film, the nearly four-hour version of Snyder’s Justice League existed on his laptop, a memento he kept close to his chest after he departed from the project. Could Snyder’s Justice League ever see the light of day?

With the disaster of Joss Whedon’s Justice League behind them, Warner Bros. and DC turned their attention towards adapting other DC Comics properties like Aquaman and Shazam! and a new, more family-friendly direction post-Snyder. It was obvious from fans that the studio was taking their cues from Marvel and playing it safe when it came to their future cinematic superhero slate.

But that didn’t stop fans from demanding to see the fabled Snydercut of Justice League. Fan campaigns were notorious for their futility, often generating publicity but never delivering on any promise. But this time was different.

A worldwide coalition of fans banded together and snowballed their voices into online petitions, social media campaigns, and paid advertisements such as a “Release The Snydercut” billboard in New York’s Times Square. The hashtags #TheSnyderCut and #ReleaseTheSnyderCut started to trend worldwide on social media rather frequently. The campaign to release the Sndyercut was bolstered by the cast and crew of Justice League, as well as Snyder himself joining in on the cause. The enthusiastic campaign went on for two years.

Then came a regime change at Warner Bros. in 2019. The streaming wars were already underway, with established streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu getting added competition from CBS All Access (now Paramount+) and the newly launched Disney+ and Peacock. WarnerMedia decided to enter the streaming wars by launching HBO Max in May 2020. Then the news came a few weeks later that the hotly anticipated Snydercut would be an HBO Max exclusive set for worldwide release in early 2021. A quid pro quo, not only would HBO Max allow Snyder to finally finish and showcase his vision of Justice League to the world, but HBO Max would also reap the benefits with exclusive content and, hopefully, new monthly subscribers as a result.

Costing an estimated $70 million to finish, the aptly titled Zack Snyder’s Justice League is Rated-R and clocks in at 242 minutes, a little over four hours. The film is what Snyder originally hoped to release before skepticism, studio interference, and personal tragedy forced him to leave the production willingly. Released on HBO Max on March 18, 2021, Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally debuted to an overwhelmingly positive response. Critics raved, fan response was through the roof, and the film led to an increase in HBO Max downloads.

Often touted as a fabled unicorn that would never see the light of day, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is now here for all the world to see as a permanent staple on HBO Max. With #RelaseTheSnydercut now in the past, fans shifted to a new hashtag: #RestoreTheSnyderVerse. Fans now hope that the positive response to Snyder’s vision will propel Warner Bros. to move forward with sequels and spin-offs to his Justice League. Only time will tell if they do. Whatever goodwill was lost between fans and the studio had now been restored, at least for the time being. 

The film finally brings closure to a time of great professional frustration and personal tragedy for Snyder, offering somewhat of a catharsis. The film is the DC Comics universe seen through the scrutinizing lens of Snyder’s auteurist eye.

A singular vision, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an unapologetic examination of what has defined DC Comics in the modern comic book era. More than just street-level heroes concerned with stopping run-of-the-mill criminals, the icons of DC Comics are gods amongst men – something Zack Snyder fully understood. His cinematic take on these heroes was tragic, mythic, and spiritual.

On full display in Snyder’s Justice League is also the stark difference between DC Comics and their arch-rival Marvel Comics, a difference that Warner Bros., through their ignorance and hubris, felt they could imitate in their films. The tropes that have characterized Marvel Comics – the everyman, usually through some type of scientific happenstance, is imbued with extraordinary abilities – have come to define their brand of heroes for the better part of the last six decades. For Marvel’s superheroes, the repetitiveness of their mundane lives doesn’t end when they develop superpowers. Rather, it endures with an added complication of using these powers responsibly to help those in need – just as long as they don’t miss the bus to work and have paid the rent on time. And it’s this unique spin on the superhero that has delighted moviegoers and catapulted Marvel Studios into the box office stratosphere.

Many have wanted Warner Bros. and DC to emulate the filmmaking formula of Marvel Studios. And although it might be tempting to make the comparison, just like the comics, what works for Marvel does not work for DC and vice versa. But like the Greek tragedies to which their pantheon of superheroes is compared, DC, by trying to emulate Marvel Studios’ cinematic formula, had a tragic fall from grace with their Justice League fiasco. Having momentarily lost their identity, DC has since swiftly recovered.

No longer trying to be like their rival Marvel Studios, Warner Bros. and DC have embraced their more mature, mythic, and darker identity that has made them the standard-bearer of comic book cinema since 1978’s Superman: The Movie. Continuity, canon, and cinematic universe building be damned, just make good films. That seems to be Warner Bros. and DC’s motto right now. With the four-quadrant hit that was Wonder Woman, the fantastical billion-dollar success of Aquaman, the family-friendly Shazam!, the Oscar-winning Joker, the Tarantinian Birds of Prey, and with James Gunn’s R-rated The Suicide Squad and Matt Reeves’ gritty The Batman reboot on the horizon, time will tell if audiences used to the multi-platform and predictable storytelling formula of Marvel will continue to respond to DC’s unique and fluid approach to their comic book adaptations.

If the success of Zack Snyder’s Justice League was any indication, and with Warner Bros. now advocating diverse filmmakers with unique visions for their DC properties, it seems Warner Bros. has learned the lessons from their Justice League debacle. Much like how Snyder’s vision of DC’s superheroes was rooted in faith, so too has to be Warner Bros. filmmaking sensibilities as a studio. Not just unique to Warner Bros., but all movie studios in this current corporately controlled era of Hollywood need to have faith in their material, faith in their filmmakers, and faith in their audience. Movies are art and must be treated as such; no amount of corporate spreadsheets can ever replace a good story. Regardless of a filmmaker’s vision, the audience just wants one thing and one thing only: a good movie. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a testament to this.