The director’s cut of 2017’s Justice League, titled Zack Snyder’s Justice League, was released by Warner Bros. in 2021. The studio looks to look back on this decision in 2022.
Variety just published an article on DC’s protracted search for a Kevin Feige-like figure within the studio. The article claimed that execs at the studio regret letting Zack Snyder’s Justice League going. Variety reports that officials at Warner Bros. believe that releasing Zack Snyder’s Justice League (also known as “the Snyder, cut “by fans) has only given fans more motivation to challenge Warner Bros. management at every opportunity.
Soon after the first Justice League movie hit theatres, a push to “release the Snyder cut” began. Initially attached to helm the picture was Zack Snyder, who had previously worked on DC films like Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but due to a personal tragedy, he was replaced by Joss Whedon, the director of The Avengers. The Justice League theatrical cut received a lot of negative reviews and had a low box office performance. The internet movement to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut was started by fans of Snyder who wanted to see the movie as he saw it. Recent accusations suggest that a now-defunct advertising firm may have contributed to the popularity of Snyder’s Justice League.
Justice League, directed by Zack Snyder and running for four hours and two minutes, was released by Warner Bros. in 2021. Without Whedon’s assistance, Snyder was alone and responsible for this edit. Variety claims that Warner Bros.’s first goal was to satisfy fans by providing the “Snyder edit” they had sought before returning to its own DC plans. As a result, another internet campaign pushing for Warner Bros. to #RestoreTheSnyderverse by publishing direct sequels and spinoffs to Zack Snyder’s Justice League was spurred by the movie’s popularity.
Warner Bros. has battled to decide what to do with Zack Snyder’s Justice League since it was released. Snyder has chosen to release his own Netflix films Army of the Dead and Rebel Moon rather than returning to work on any DC projects. Warner Bros. executives have started to completely deny the Synder cut’s existence. For example, when documentarian Leslie Iwerks wanted to use excerpts from Zack Snyder’s Justice League, she was told that the only version of the movie that Warner Bros. was ready to recognize was the 2017 version.
HBO Max is presently streaming both the first Justice League movie and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Justice is Gray, yet another alternate edit of the movie, is also accessible on the platform.