Justice League Artist Says Whedon Cut Isn't The Story Snyder Was Telling

[Black Panther]

Justice League storyboard artist Jay Oliva confirms that the movie's final cut assembled by Joss Whedon didn't tell the narrative that Zack Snyder was planning on telling. Over the last few months, Snyder has been taking it to his social media platform to engage with other users who continue to discuss his trio of DC Films projects (Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League). Through his interactions, it's become more apparent that he had a grand plan with several planted plot seeds that would've told an overall story broken into a few film installments. Unfortunately, most of these references were ignored, with no payoff in the theatrical version of the superhero ensemble flick, leaving fans confused. Things have started to pick-up again regarding the issue when a brand new rumor claimed Snyder may be working on releasing his cut of the movie without Warner Bros.

For context, Oliva closely worked with Snyder during the conception of Justice League's story, meaning he was there while the filmmaker was crafting his overall vision for the movie. And considering that Snyder mostly has a complete plan before going into production, the artist knew more or less what the director's full version was going to be like. But like Snyder, Oliva wasn't involved in the reshoots and post-production, so he basically knows the difference between Snyder's narrative and what ultimately ended up on the big screen.

In a conversation with Revenge of the Fans, Oliva shared his two cents with regard to the Release the Snyder Cut movement, voicing out people's sentiments on why they want Snyder's work on the film revealed to the public. And in the process, the artist reiterates long-running theories about how the film's final cut was significantly different from its credited director's vision.

“That’s what the whole movement is about. It’s not about finishing the film it’s about showing the fans of Zack’s universe established in MoS and BvS the more accurate representation of where the story was supposed to go."

Fans casting doubts on whether or not Justice League's final cut was still Snyder's story immediately started after the movie rolled out in theaters. Due to the last minute director switch that led to Joss Whedon overseeing the film's reportedly extensive reshoots, noticeable changes and omissions from previously released trailers the year before made it obvious that the project had gone through significant changes story-wise. And while Warner Bros. and the cast maintained that Snyder's vision remained intact, Olivia's latest reveal backs up these theories, more likely fueling the fire for the Release the Snyder Cut movement.

Oliva's comments echo the sentiments of the countless Snyder fans who are campaigning for the release of the Snyder Cut because they genuinely want to know what Snyder's original vision was for Justice League. Considering that many of the things that would've supposedly happened in the movie was about to springboard Justice League Part 2, the film would've also significantly impacted the DCEU's future as a whole. Whether or not there's a chance that long-term vision is translated to the big screen is another conversation, especially considering that Warner Bros. is trying to veer away from the dark and broody tone that the filmmaker thrives in. But at this point, fans are only trying to know the story that Warner Bros. was initially selling to them.

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