Justice League: Warner Bros. Never Even Saw The Snyder Cut Until 2019

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Director Zack Snyder reveals that Warner Bros. only saw his finished cut of Justice League in 2019. The Snyder Cut premiered this March to largely positive reviews from critics and fans. Introduced as a narrative redo of the original Justice League film, many viewers appreciated Snyder’s deeper emotional exploration of the ensemble cast. It also received a significantly warmer welcome than the prior adaptation, which garnered a critical backlash for its under-baked plot and rushed storyline. Upon its initial release in 2017, DCEU fans quickly launched a Twitter campaign calling for Snyder to share his version of the film.

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The much-maligned 2017 Justice League underwent multiple production issues during its shoot. Midway through filming, Snyder had to leave the project due to a family tragedy and was soon replaced by Joss Whedon. He heavily modified much of the script and called for a series of reshoots that lightened the overall tone of the movie. The significant retooling of the film left many fans dismayed and impatient to find out what could have been under Snyder’s direction. During this time, the cast and crew joined the petition urging Warner Bros. to release the Snyder Cut. The online fervor gained slow but steady traction and, eventually, the production company agreed to finance Snyder’s vision.

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While speaking to Vanity Fair, Snyder described the overall process of meeting with Warner Bros. He broke down how his first few conversations went with them. Read what Snyder recalled below:

I said, ‘Well, can I at least come in and tell you what I think the best version of this would be?’ And so I went in and just kind of pitched them on finishing the movie correctly and ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ and how we could market it and what it would mean to the fans and all that. And then they came over to my house and watched it—no one had ever seen this version of the movie. They were like, ‘Okay, we’re inclined to do it.’

While Snyder’s conception of the film ultimately reached fruition, he revealed that there was some back-and-forth about how to proceed. Initially, Warner Bros. suggested releasing a raw, unfinished cut of the film on HBO Max for fans. Snyder quickly rejected the idea, because he knew that it would disappoint viewers hoping for an authentic adaptation of his original script. He also acknowledged that, without VFX or color grading, much of the footage would look “horrible.” As a result, he pitched Warner Bros. his own proposal for the new cut.

Overall, Snyder’s journey to showcase his artistic rendering of the beloved group of DCEU superheroes was, in the end, a success story. Although boasting a four-hour runtime, Zack Snyder’s Justice League remains a worthy and acclaimed event for DC fans. The stars of the film similarly thanked Snyder for returning to set with a thoughtful and nuanced narrative for their individual characters. With passion, hard work, and a heavy dose of luck, Snyder achieved the kind of cinematic redemption that many storytellers in Hollywood dream of accomplishing.